Reasons for Living
by MoonlitSerenity
Summary: Sweeney Todd discovers Johanna as she remains in conflict over he who claims to be her father and the beggar lives.Will the tormenting memories cease? Will a broken family find their reasons for living once more? Mostly Swucy also shocking Sweenett.r r!
1. Chapter 1

There was nothing but to wait. Sweeney Todd detested this type of waiting. He waited in prison for 15 years for a chance to grasp the life he had once known. He had waited days and nights for an opportunity to seek his vengeance. Yet, this time, he was waiting for the reason of his shattered dreams, life, and family. Sweeney Todd was waiting for Judge Turpin, and every step he took brought impatience and anger.

_He had sent the letter. What the hell was taking the bastard so long?_

His pacing stopped as he gazed outside of his window that overlooked the filthy London. A soft glint bounced off of the razor as he held it in his hand. _Soon_, it seemed to sigh. _Soon…_

_************************************************************************************_

Toby sat, listening to the ominous pacing that continued upstairs in the barber shop. _He is dangerous. He had to warn Mrs. Lovett!_

Toby stood with a sigh and walked into the parlor where he found the woman dozing in a recliner chair. She woke with a slight start as the boy walked in further, silently begging for forgiveness for waking the only person in the world that had ever shown affection towards him. He would return the favor.

"Where you been, lad? Been quite the rush at dinner tonight, me poor bones is ready to drop," she murmured as her eyes closed.

Toby continued to walk forward. "I went on an errand for Mr. Todd. I stopped by the workhouse to take a look and I couldn't help but think that if it weren't for you…I'd still be there." Mrs. Lovett smiled and opened her eyes.

Toby kneeled at the side of her chair. _It's now or never. _"Mum? What if there was someone who was bad, but you never knew it?"

Mrs. Lovett's eyes widened as her head turned to look the boy she had grown to love. _Did he know? Had he seen something?_ "What are you talking about? What do you mean _bad_?" the woman asked, but Toby ignored her questions and spoke.

"I would never let anything harm you. You saved me and I will be forever in your debt. But there is someone who I think wishes to hurt you," Toby cast a glance at the ceiling, "Someone bad."

Mrs. Lovett jumped out of her seat, in terror. "Please, there is nothing to be afraid of, dear!"

Toby just shook his head. "I knew you would say that. I just want you to believe me. Mr. Todd is dangerous!"

Mrs. Lovett let out a hiss of air as if she had been punched. "You believe that Mr. Todd is dangerous?"

Toby nodded his head slowly. Though the fear in her eyes tore at Toby's heart, he remained firm.

"Now dear," the baker said, choosing her words carefully. "Mr. Todd is a wonderful man. He has taken care of both of us. I would never dream of thinking bad thoughts of him. You must trust my word and him as a person. Nothing will ever harm you, Toby. I swear it."

The young boy seemed to waver. "Are you sure, mum?"

Mrs. Lovett nodded, "I'm sure." She walked over to the piano that had not been played in years. She slipped some coins out of the purse that was the boy's former master's, taking care that she was not seen. "Why don't you go to the market and buy us some sweets, dear?" She handed the money to him, the wallet still hidden. Toby smiled as he took the money.

"Thank you, mum!"

"Take your time, sweet, and you may purchase anything else that takes your fancy."

The boy sent her one last smile as he walked out of the room and slipped out the door. Mrs. Lovett relaxed. She would not let her Toby be harmed. She loved him as her own.

"Better check on Mr. Todd," she said too herself. The stairs shuddered slightly underneath her feat as she walked upstairs to the barber shop.

"Mr. T?" she asked as she walked in. The room was very dark, yet she could make out the barber's figure, staring out of the window. "Toby went out to get a few things," she informed him. He did not reply. "Are you alright?" Mrs. Lovett questioned as she took a few tiny steps forward. He whirled around to face her.

"The judge will be here soon," he muttered, his eyes glinting dangerously. The woman placed her hands on her hips.

"Well, that explains the bloody pacing," she whispered. He turned his head to gaze out of the window once more.

"Excuse me, Beadle Bamford calling on official business!" Both the barber and the baker rushed out of the shop and down the stairs to where the shout had seemed to come from.

The Beadle stood at the bottom of the stairs, his small face pink and plump. "Evening," he said with an odd wave of his hand. "I am sorry to inform you that there have been complaints of the smell that has come from your chimney. It is very foul, so I am here to let you know that I must take a look at your bake house, according to the health regulations."

Sweeney Todd leaned in towards the Beadle and began to persuade him to let the barber pamper him. Of course, Mr. Todd was not about to _pamper_ the vermin that had led to the doom of his wife and the imprisonment of his only child. No, that was definitely not his intentions.

Mrs. Lovett watched as the two men disappeared into the shop, knowing that she would never be bothered with the Beadle again. He was as good as dead.

Sweeney Todd let the pleasure of slitting the man's throat flow through his veins. Beadle Bamford let out a sickening gurgle as the razor slit through his skin, as if it were its only purpose. The sound was like a symphony to the murderous barber.

"Never fear," he said to the dying man. "The devil shall join you soon enough." And with that, the chair tilted backward, allowing the man to fall through the trapdoor and hit his head against the floor of the bake house. The barber grabbed the Beadle's hat and coat, savoring the sight of them fluttering down and covering the Beadle's shocked face. Though his face was covered, the dark liquid spread from beneath his body, painting the stones around him, a dark crimson.

Sweeney walked out of the shop, his thirst for revenge, still not yet satisfied.

************************************************************************************

Mrs. Lovett looked up as the barber entered the parlor. "Is it done?" she asked. He nodded his head, causing her to let out a breath of relief. "Good."

She walked over to him. "I need to talk to you about…about…Toby," she stammered. She would tell the barber of the boy's suspicions, but she would not allow him to hurt Toby. She only wanted Sweeney to be aware…

*************************************************************************************

"Mr. Todd!" Anthony yelled as he rushed into the barber shop, Johanna tripping in behind him. "Wait here, Johanna. I shall return with a coach, just stay here for a half an hour. I swear your safe, dear. No one will recognize you," he assured her, noting the disguise he had placed her in. Anthony placed a hand on the fold of her jacket, and straightened it slightly.

No one would suspect a boy to be the beautiful Johanna. No one.

He placed a slight kiss on her head and ran out, leaving Johanna alone in the shop. She walked slowly around the shop, never suspecting that this shop had once been her home. Suddenly, Johanna heard a voice and footsteps heading to the room where she stood. Johanna immediately dropped the razor that she was examining and hid inside of the trunk.

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The beggar woman had seen the Beadle walking up the stairs. He had walked up the stairs to hell! He had! "Beadle," she sang softly as she too, walked up the stairs to find the missing man. "I saw you," she declared in a shaky voice while opening the shop door.

It was slightly dark in the room as she paced around, looking for what she thought was the Beadle, but what her body told her was something else, though she did not know what. As she walked to a mirror with a variety of creams and lotions on the top, she noticed a picture with a woman and a baby, their faces smeared with a substance that appeared to be red. Though this would normally be a frightening sight, the beggar stared at the picture itself, entranced by the familiarity of it. _Who were these people? Had she met them before?_ "Place of madness," she shrieked, slamming the picture down. Tears of frustration flowed down her dirty face.

A baby, a husband, love, pain, rape_, _these _thoughts_ invaded her mind. The room around her seemed to fade as she faced the scene before her. She stood near a young woman with golden hair holding a small child, sitting in a chair, her face holding nothing short of sorrow. "Stop!" she shrieked. "Stop." The image faded slowly.

The bells attached to the door jingled as the beggar fled the shop and ran down the stairs, her tears smearing the dirt on her face. Whoever that woman was that she had just seen, she was in pain, and she felt like she knew that pain. She felt like she knew that woman.

**HELLO, MY BEAUTIFUL READERS!! Thank you so much for checking out my story! Sorry if the story was a little general but the "what if" part is coming up. Please submit a comment! FLAMERS CAN GO TO HELL WHERE THEY WILL BE WELCOMED!! Any constructive comment is gladly accepted and the next chapter will be up soon! Review! It motivates me!**

**Thanks!-****XOLOVEBUGXO**


	2. Chapter 2

The air in the trunk soon became hot. Johanna felt herself struggling for breath as her petite body ached to stretch. _No! She did not know what was out there! _Her eyes yearned for sight, for a hint of light in the suffocating darkness. Yet she stayed, waiting for a sign of safety, waiting for Anthony.

The barber trudged back up the stairs. He had not been surprised when Mrs. Lovett told him of Toby's suspicions. He really did not care. There was no fear when she had begun and there was no relief when the woman had mentioned how she had convinced the boy that Mr. Todd was innocent. There was simply nothing. There was nothing but the anxious waiting that had claimed him since he delivered the letter. Not even the comforting feel of his razor could stop the barber from pacing across his shop, as he tended to do.

Sweeney noticed something different on the table where he kept his things. The picture of Lucy and Johanna had been placed face down. Mr. Todd rushed forward as if he had committed the very worst of sins. With slightly trembling hands he placed the frame back to its right side and gently caressed the still faces of the only people he knew to love.

"Mr. Todd!"

Adrenaline rushed through the barber's veins the moment he heard the judge yell his name. _This was his last chance and he would NOT fail to avenge his family. Not this time. No matter what happened, he would stand in Turpin's blood with his razor pointed to the heavens as the body of the judge would fall down, as if he were falling to hell. _

"Where is she?" Turpin hissed as he rushed into the doorway of the shop.

At first, Mr. Todd had forgotten who the judge was seeking. The memory suddenly came to him, causing him to stagger backwards.

"Johanna is below with my neighbor. We should all be thankful, for the sailor did not defile her." Sweeney grimaced at the very thought of such a despicable thing happening to his daughter. _If only she were down stairs. If only he could see that little baby grown into the beautiful girl that he had fervently dreamed of. If only…_

_FOCUS! _His mind seamed to scream at him.

"Y-yes, she is safe, but she also has pondered on her sins, and wishes to see you again. There is nothing else she speaks of, sir."

Sweeney could not help but smirk as the judge foolishly believed his tale.

"She begs for your forgiveness, sir. Not to worry though, for she shall be here soon."

Mr. Todd gestured towards the barber's chair. "Shall I give you a shave? I am sure she will appreciate it deeply," Sweeney whispered. Turpin gave a jerky nod of his head as he walked towards the chair and sat down. _No need for lather_, Mr. Todd noted in his thoughts.

Judge Turpin sighed and leaned against the back of the chair. "Like me, Mr. Todd, you have a good spirit."

Sweeney Todd leaned in closer, his razor inches away from his victim's face. "The only thing we have in common, sir, is our taste in women," he said in a soft, yet dangerous tone.

"I beg your pardon?" the judge asked, his head turned towards the barber in a suspicious gaze.

"No doubt, the years have changed me, but in the face of a barber, a face of a prisoner of the dark… I suppose that would not be particularly memorable," Sweeney breathed.

Hostile realization crossed Judge Turpin's face. "Benjamin Barker," he spat.

The barber could hold it no longer. Revenge was at his fingertips! Revenge, salvation, and the man who ruined his life. "BENJAMIN BARKER!!" he screamed, his body shaking with anticipation and rage.

The razor plunged into the judge's flesh, each stab for a reason. The first dug deep into his flesh, causing the judge to gasp in pain.

_For Lucy._

The second dug only for a little while, spraying blood onto the barber's face, licking his skin.

_For Johanna._

Though the third stab was not very long, it had a serious meaning.

_For all the pain you have caused._

Blood ran into his eyes, blurring his vision momentarily, as he dug the razor deep into his skin.

_For everyone you have ever wronged. _

Again and again, the judge winced and gurgled, liquid erupting from every hole that Sweeney had punctured.

The final stab was deep and long.

_For Benjamin Barker. _

Mr. Todd pulled away, savoring the sight of Turpin in pain and the feel of the warm substance on his skin. Slowly, he stepped in front of the bleeding man, casting him a glance of revulsion. He then slid his razor across the honorable Judge Turpin's neck.

"For you," Sweeney muttered.

Turpin slid from the chair as the barber pushed the pedal on the floor, allowing darkness to swallow the body, just as darkness had swallowed Benjamin Barker's soul.

A sense of accomplishment seemed to enter Sweeney Todd. Accomplishment and absolute exhaustion.

Johanna could not take the retched trunk for another second. The girl listened in horror as she heard her guardian moaning and crying out in pain. She could hear a sharp object breaking his skin with a metallic clink. Still, the trunk was unbearable, so Johanna lifted the lid to reveal a gruesome sight.

Blood soaked the chair that was placed in the middle of the room. As her eyes adjusted to the room around her around her, she noticed a man leaning over the chair, his hands raised as if in silent prayer. A terrifying sight, but even more so as the man's head turned in her direction.

He stood and grabbed what appeared to be a bloody razor, no doubt the murder weapon. Johanna shrunk back as he stood and walked over slowly. His menacing steps increased her heart's tempo as well as her breaths, as if they were not already hurried.

Sheer terror met black hatred as he opened the lid of the trunk. Not even fresh air could comfort the girl as the man spoke to her. "Come for a shave, lad?"

_Lad?_ Johanna stared down at her outfit in dread as she realized that she was still dressed as a boy.

"_No one will recognize you…" _Anthony's last few words haunted Johanna, condemned her.

The man's merciless hands grabbed at the lapel of her jacket and pulled her out of the trunk. She let out a gasp as her body was flung into the chair, the man lifting the razor threateningly.

A shrill scream filled the room from downstairs, stopping the man's movement immediately. His eyes flicked to the door and then back to Johanna. In a flash of silver, the razor was menacingly held in front of her eyes.

"Forget my face, boy," he hissed before pushing her back slightly as he released her and ran out of the room.

The girl let out a breath of air that she had not realized she was holding. She was not certain of whom the man was, but she knew one thing with absolute certainty. She would NEVER forget his face.

"Mrs. Lovett? Why did you scream? Is it the Judge?" Sweeney asked as he hurried into the bake house.

The baker stood over the now stilled body of Turpin. "He was grabbin' at me skirts, but now he's finished," she informed.

"We should get rid of 'em," while grabbing the dead man's arm hesitantly.

"I'll do it. Just open the door," Mr. Todd murmured while walking forward and gesturing to the large oven.

She nodded her head and hurried over to the steel door, wincing as it creaked open.

Before she knew it, the bodies of the Judge and Beadle were blackening in the fire, the flames engulfing them in delight.

Mrs. Lovett turned her head to the man standing next to her, admiring the look in his eyes as the glow from the fire bathed his skin.

"This…is very romantic," she whispered in a soft voice…a lover's whisper.

He looked at her, his face unreadable, until a flash of what seemed to be pain replaced his mask. "There was a boy upstairs in my shop. My mind told me to kill him, but…something else told me not to. I'm just so…tired," he confessed slowly.

Mrs. Lovett stared at him, desperately trying to hide her shock. This was the most he had ever said to her, and above all things, it was a confession.

"There, there, dear, you'll be fine."

"I thought that this," he gestured towards the burning bodies, "would make all of the anguish leave. It hasn't. I feel as if I miss..._ them_…more than ever."

Though these words were spoken more to him than to her, Mrs. Lovett could not help but feel sorrow for the man. _Should she tell? Could she let him know of the true fate of his lover?_ The woman looked down at her hands, imagining it holding the barber's. _Absolutely not!_

She blushed when she realized that she had spoken the last part of her thought. "Absolutely not?" he asked, turning to her. "What do you mean?"

Upon receiving no answer, he turned on his heel and began to walk out of the bake house, muttering, "If that boy is still in my bloody shop…" Sweeney Todd's voice trailed off as he walked back up to his shop, razor still in his hand.

As he entered, he was surprised to see Anthony in his shop, holding the boy he had threatened earlier.

"Mr. Todd?" he questioned as he looked up from the lad, tears slipping from his small face. "It would appear that you gave her quite a fright-…why are you covered in blood, sir?"

_Why was he covered in blood? Think! Quick!_

"I went into the bake house and Mrs. Lovett had just bought some fresh meat. The man who sold it to her did not drain it well enough, so as we were placing it in the grinder, we got blood on ourselves. Well, I got blood on myself. Mrs. Lovett was very tired…she did not have the strength to lift up such a heavy piece of meat."

He then froze.

_Had Anthony said that he gave _her _a fright? Had he been too busy thinking of a lie to realize what the boy had just said?_

"Anthony?" Mr. Todd asked, his heart increasing in its beat. "Who is that?" Sweeney pointed a finger at the _girl_ who was staring at him, fear etched on every inch of her face.

Anthony smiled, "This is Johanna. Remember our arrangement, sir?"

_Johanna. _

"Johanna," Sweeney Todd rasped, his knees beginning to feel weak and his stomach, sick. He had almost murdered his child…his baby girl. The barber tortured himself with images of her broken and bleeding as he walked towards the pair.

Anthony looked at him curiously. "Yes, Johanna."

With trembling hands, Sweeney reached towards Johanna who cowered in fear.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he whispered as he grasped the cap on her head. "I swear I will not hurt you."

Blonde hair cascaded down Johanna's body the second the cap was removed.

_Beautiful and pale as the moon, with blonde hair of a yellow shade. _

_Like her._

_Just like her. _

**HEY GUYS! I WANNA THANK YOU ALL FOR REVIEWING! YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST AND I HOPE YOU KEEP UP WITH THE STORY! SORRY FOR THE CLIFFY BUT IM GONNA ADD THE NEXT CHAPTER SOON. IT TOOK SO LONG TO GET THIS ONE ON BECAUSE OF THE DAMN GLITCH THAT FANFICTION HAD GOING ON. HAHA VERY FRUSTRATING! ALRITE REVIEW AND IF YOU FLAME…AT LEAST YOU'RE VENTING TO SOMEONE! I HOPE IT HELPS YOU FLAMERS! THANK YOU!**


	3. Chapter 3

"Mr. Todd," Anthony's voice interrupted Sweeney's memories. "I am afraid that our coach is awaiting our departure."

Johanna nodded her head, wishing to be far away from the odd man who had just taken off her hat and stared at her. _She had dealt with that sort of treatment for fifteen years…and it would NOT happen again!_

Mr. Todd stood for a moment before breaking the silence with a gruff, "You may go."

The young sailor smiled gratefully. "A thousand thanks my friend! I will never forget your kindness towards me. Come, Johanna," he said as he led Johanna to the door, away from her fears.

"Stop!" the barber commanded, his voice holding more harshness than he had intended.

"You said th-," Anthony began, only to be interrupted by the older man.

"I said that _YOU_ could go. Johanna will be staying here."

The young girl let out a yelp of fear, causing Anthony to wrap a protective arm around her shoulder.

"With all due respect, sir, Johanna will be leaving with me," Anthony replied. "Why do you wish otherwise? Remember that I did save your life. "

Sweeney Todd took in a deep breath of air, "I paid my debt for your rescue by allowing you to take the girl here. She shall stay, for now you owe me!"

Anthony began to back away. His back now faced the open doorway. "I am sorry, Mr. Todd. I cannot allow it. I love Johanna…"

Sweeney stepped in front of the doorway, blocking off any chance of escape.

Anthony's face held panic. "What do you plan on doing to her?"

"Nothing, I told you earlier that I would never harm her."

Johanna continued to grasp onto Anthony's arm, as if she faced death if she let go. Silently, she begged for an opportunity to make her escape. _She was so close_! The open door beckoned her, mocking how close freedom was, and how she would never reach it. Not while this man was around._ What did he want from her? Why was he insisting that she stay, though Anthony had made it very clear that he would not allow it? Anthony would protect her. Wouldn't he?_

"Sir, we are leaving," Anthony said as he tried to step around the barber's form. Sweeney Todd blocked his way, yet again.

"Anthony, you are not hearing what I have been saying," he muttered, his patience wearing thin. "You cannot take Johanna with you."

"Why the hell not?" Anthony growled his young face distorted with red anger.

"Because Johanna used to live here."

"That, sir, is hardly a good enough reason to keep a young girl locked up against her will."

Anthony looked around the room. "I do not wish to fight you, Mr. Todd. Please, let us leave and we will have settled this like reasonable gentleman."

Sweeney shook his head. "Anthony, only you should leave. Now."

"Suppose I decide to stay with Johanna! Suppose I have the heart not to forsake her! What then Mr. Todd? Will you try to hurt me? Will you let your anger get the best of you as it has done many times before?"

The man's eyes flicked to his open razor box on the nearby table. The image of slitting the boy's throat was all to appealing, yet the look in his daughter's eyes, changed his thought immediately. She was scared. She was utterly terrified of what would become of her and Anthony. Sweeney had to admit that the situation would be frightening had he been in her position, but he had to do this. He could not afford to lose his daughter. _Not again._

"I'm sorry, Johanna. I am sorry that you are afraid. Try to understand…if you can," Sweeney whispered to the girl, completely ignoring the boy that she was still clutching.

Anthony's face softened at the sincerity in the barber's voice. "Mr. Todd, obviously you have a reason for keeping Johanna here. What is it?"

The man sighed, feeling a sense of defeat flow through him.

"Johanna is my daughter. I do not think I can handle losing her again…not when she is this so close to me."

Nobody spoke. Nobody moved. Nobody breathed. They just stood in retched silence, while rain began to patter on the large window that overlooked the city.

_She had ruined it. The only chance she had to talk to Benjamin Barker and she had utterly failed. _

Mrs. Lovett sighed as she closed the iron door, sealing in the ashes of the two men that had ruined the lives of so many innocents.

Sweeney Todd had actually discussed his emotions with her, he had showed the sign of humanity that she had prayed to see, and she had been too busy thinking of his precious _Lucy._

Lucy. She had once actually considered that woman her friend. The young woman's beauty had never been a challenge to her. That is until she had started to have feelings toward her husband. Even now, she was still devoted to him without even a chance of breaking her obsession with the barber.

_What would happen if he found out that Lucy was still living? What would he do? Would he be happy or would he give in to his rage, yet again? _

"Mum! I'm back and I've brought home our sweets!" Toby's voice trailed with excitement.

_Why did she feel so guilty? Yes, she was lying…but it was for love! She only wanted to be with the man, even if it meant that she would have to search for affinity with him for as long as she lived._

"Mum, are you alright?" Toby asked, his voice cracking with concern.

Mrs. Lovett smiled slightly. "I'm coming up, Toby."

The baker lifted up her skirts and walked up towards the parlor, her knees trembling from the effort of walking up the retched stairs.

The boy stood with a small package in his hands. "Sorry if I took too long."

Mrs. Lovett shook her head and stepped towards him. "You were just fine, love. Now I believe you said something about sweets!"

"You…you are lying," Johanna choked our, her eyes stinging from threatening tears.

"I would never lie about something as serious as this. I cannot let my family leave me." Sweeney Todd stared at the floorboards. "You're all I've got left." Sweeney was surprised by the way he had so freely admitted how he felt. He was always so…closed.

"Johanna is your daughter…so that is why you helped me! You wanted to…" Anthony looked down, his face both distraught but holding understanding.

Sweeney stayed still, unable to breath. His eyes, locked onto his daughter's, anxiously searching for something-anything besides hurt and disbelief.

"I don't believe it," the girl stated. "My guardian informed me of the deaths of my parents." Her voice was dry and low.

"Did you actually believe everything that he said? After he kept you hidden from the world?"

Johanna shuddered. "Sir, as of now, I see no difference between you and him."

The words his daughter had just uttered were like an unmerciful slap to his face. _No difference between him and TURPIN?_

"Sir, I have been thinking…and I decided…you may keep…Johanna, BUT-but I will be staying here in London. Her well being is all that matters to me, Mr. Todd."

_Thank you Anthony, for you have given me the right to keep my OWN daughter!_

"Thank you, Anthony, for understanding," the barber murmured.

Pure shock and betrayal portrayed every single inch of Johanna's face. "Anthony," she whispered.

He shook his head, smiling very slightly. He then sang softly in her ear, so that no one but her could listen.

_I'll steal you, Johanna._

_I'll steal you. _

_Do they think that walls can hide you?_

_Even now I'm at your window._

_I am in the dark beside you. _

_Buried sweetly in your yellow hair. _

"Johanna," he breathed. "I will be back for you. We will leave this place. Stay strong until then."

He reluctantly pulled away, and turned to the older man. "Take good care of her, sir. It would appear that this is goodbye."

Sweeney nodded his head, suspicious of the boy's easy surrender. "Good-bye, Anthony."

The young sailor exited through the open doorway, casting one final reassuring glance towards Johanna before descending down the stairs and allowing the shadows to embrace him.

He was gone.

Johanna felt more alone than ever. Knowing that had been truly loved for once in her life had given her hope.

Now the only thing that kept her hope alive was the promise that he had made to her. He would rescue her from this house of terror, just as he had rescued her from the asylum. He would come back for her. No matter what, Anthony would not abandon her.


	4. Chapter 4

It had been a few moments until Sweeney remembered that he was still covered in crusty blood that coated him like a second skin.

"I'm going to get this…of myself. You may sit down, if you wish. I won't be long."

Johanna silently walked over to the trunk where she had experience near suffocation, and sat down, refusing to look in the barber's direction.

Sweeney noted the bowl of water he had placed on his table to clean up some of the blood that would soak the floors when he practiced his…profession. He grabbed a cloth and began to rub the blood off of his face. It smeared when wet, almost appearing to be paint that had caked his face. Finally, he threw the bloody cloth aside and slipped on his jacket that was previously lying on the corner. The mirror in his room was where he had first seen his changed appearance. Though he knew he must check his reflection for sign of blood, he still felt ice water run through his veins every time he stared into his eyes.

When he had finished, the man turned to face the girl sitting on the trunk, her eyes downcast.

"Johanna…you're shaking," Sweeney Todd observed. "Please come downstairs and we can get you something to eat." He held out his hand to her.

"_We?_ Is someone else here?" she asked bitterly, her eyes holding daggers for the man before her.

He made an effort to ignore her expression. "Yes, my neighbor, Mrs. Lovett. I'm sure she will make you feel at home…" he replied.

"Well, she is a woman…its better…"Johanna muttered under her breath as she gracefully slid off of the trunk, walked past Sweeney Todd's opened hand, and made her way down the stairs. He tried to shrug off the rejection and walked down behind Johanna, ready for any attempts of escape.

_Shame, I wanted to free her, not lock her up all over again…_

"Mrs. Lovett, Johanna…she's here," Sweeney could barely talk over a hushed tone, as the two walked into the area where Mrs. Lovett made some of her pies.

Mrs. Lovett's head popped out of the parlor room doorway, her face seemingly exited.

_If she could get along with Johanna, then her _father_ would most certainly have feelings for her. This was her chance, and she would not lose it like she had earlier!_

"Toby, someone's here that we want you to meet."

Toby's small footsteps carried in the parlor room until he too, was outside of the room.

He nodded towards Mr. Todd respectfully and studied what appeared to be a girl… a very pretty girl in boy's clothing. Toby tried to hold back his urge to laugh. "How do you do, miss?" he asked politely, unsuccessfully holding back a smile.

Johanna looked him up and down, producing a small smile. "I suppose I am fine, and you may be…"

"Tobias. But you may call me Toby," he said softly with his head bent down. _She was very pretty. _

Mrs. Lovett smiled and stepped forward. "I'm Mrs. Lovett, dearie. If you be needing anything you just hop up and ask. I'm always there for you, Johanna."

"Thank you, Mrs. Lovett," she replied softly.

"Now, you look half starved! When was the last time you had something to eat?"

Johanna stared into space, her face holding deep thought. "I believe it was…yesterday. It was bread and water. The bread was moldy and I did not dare drink the water." She let out a sigh. "But the others did."

If Sweeney could raise the dead and see Judge Turpin again, he would have gladly relived the pleasure of killing him once more. How could a human being do such a thing? Did he even lose a blink of sleep at night? It wasn't likely.

"Well, will give you something to eat," Mrs. Lovett chirped as she walked towards her counter.

Sweeney nearly ran towards the woman and growled under his breath, "You are NOT going to feed my daughter the meet that we have been currently serving."

Mrs. Lovett smirked. "I actually bought meat that I used to make Toby's pies. Yes, I did let him have the ones we have been _making_ but I could not allow him to eat…_our meat_ all the time. He's just a boy. Johanna will have some regular pie, alright? She is simply a child as well."

Sweeney Todd bobbed his head up and down. He actually found himself pleased with the baker's actions, especially since she had thought to have bought regular meat in case of any inconvenience. She was rather smart…

Johanna slowly nibbled at the pie as soon as it was placed in front of her. She finished it off in a matter of minutes, her face savoring the taste of food.

"Poor thing," Mrs. Lovett said as she grabbed the plate that held a few crumbs. "Maybe you should sleep?"

Sweeney stood from the bench that he had been previously been sitting at. "Come, you will sleep in the shop. There is a bed in there."

Johanna looked up in dread, only to be comforted by the baker. "It's quite fine, Johanna. Your father does not sleep much and if he does, he will sleep in one of me nice chairs in the parlor."

The barber stood, confused_. Why had she been so scared when he mentioned a bed in his shop? Her face…oh my god._

"Go on, love."

Johanna stood, her legs nearly giving out, causing Sweeney to grab her elbow and help her gain her balance. "Thank you," she whispered before scurrying out of the room and up the stairs to the shop.

"She has been abused," Mrs. Lovett noted her voice thick with sadness.

"I know," was all Mr. Todd could say as made his leave and followed his daughter up the stairs.

She stumbled over to the bed and hugged her legs close to her.

"Please don't come any closer," she begged.

Sweeney Todd stopped in mid step. "My apologies, I just want you to know that if you need to talk… there is always someone here for you."

Johanna shook her head. "There is no one for me except Anthony. My real father would have allowed me to leave with him. Anthony is the only thing that makes me happy."

"Well maybe in time…I can make you happy."

"I don't see any possibilities of that, sir, seeing that I don't know who you are."

"I am your father, Johanna."

She looked away from him. "I don't believe that a man who so easily can take a life is capable of being a father, or even worthy. My father was a good man and you are most definitely not him."

"Judge Turpin deserved his fate."

"I will admit that my guardian was an evil man…I should know," she paused. "But who are you or any other person to say what fate a person should or should not deserve?"

He did not answer.

She studied him. "Very well, if you are my father…then where is my mother?"

_Shit! Was he stupid enough to think that this question would never come up?_

"She is unfortunately not alive."

"Oh. So you admit her death."

"I am not admitting anything. She committed suicide after…"

"She committed suicide after what?"

"Go to sleep, Johanna. I find this subject a rather delicate one," he said, using any excuse to free of the girl's accusations.

The girl turned away from him. "I don't think I will be able to sleep."

"Try."

He then walked out of the room. Without thinking, he entered his old bedroom. The one he had shared with his family so many years ago, when murder and hate was just a bad dream. Without thinking, he sat on the floor and let the ghosts of his past console him. _Oh, Lucy. Why? Why did you give up? Why did you leave me?_ He let out a snarl, disgusted by his thoughts. _It was not your fault Lucy. It never was your fault… _

Johanna had stayed in the house on Fleet Street for a few days, her hope draining as every hour dragged on. _He wasn't coming. He had left her. _

Johanna spent the days helping clean Mrs. Lovett's shop until she faced utter exhaustion and could do nothing but succumb to oblivion. On direct orders of her_ father_, she was ordered to stay in bed for a few days. At night, she would weep bitterly of the hopelessness of her situation. She would weep for her dead parents and for Anthony's betrayal. _Did anyone in this world have a single care for her?_

After one night of everlasting tears, Johanna walked over to the large window. Only few walked the streets for fear of being robbed or raped. One figure seemed to stand out, for he was not walking. He was simply staring at the large window.

_Anthony._

He had come! Johanna could have shrieked in delight if the barber was not sitting in the very room next to the shop's.

Anthony smiled at her and appeared to mouth words to her. The girl squinted, for it was very dark. She finally was able to make out the words _Come down._

Heart thumping in her chest, Johanna walked on the very tips of her feet, wincing when the floor gave off even the slightest moan. The door to the shop had bells on the top, of which Johanna held when she opened the door in order to cease there chimes. She did not bother risking closing the door.

Still walking on her toes, Johanna slid her way to the bottom of the stairs and savored the feel of Anthony's strong arms around her. She let out a small giggle and whispered, "I had begun to think that you had forgotten me!"

He let out a low chuckle. "Never. Now we must hurry if we are to make the next ship to France."

Johanna gripped his hand as they ran away from the house and into the dark alleys of London, with only the stars as their guide.

They had just turned a corner when they came across a gang of men; their faces holding sudden interest as the young couple came into their view.

"Well, boys I think we might have just had a struck of luck," one of the leaders said as he stepped towards the immobile pair.

Anthony gripped Johanna's arm. "I want you to run when I tell you, Johanna," he said in a hushed tone as the man continued to strut over to them.

"No, I will not leave you!"

The man burst out into laughter, the gang following his trail. "Aint that sweet! Tell ya what…if ya does what we tell you, you just might make it out of here with your arms attached to your bodies!"

His eyes trailed over the trembling girl. "Aww, the girl is cold. Why don't we warm her up?" Anthony pushed Johanna behind him and yelled, "Run! I'm right behind you!"

Johanna turned and bolted in the opposite direction of the gang, her ears straining to hear Anthony's pursuit. She risked a glance behind her and saw him running behind her, the men close behind. Johanna ran as fast as she her legs could possibly carry her, the lungs in her chest burning as if they were on fire.

Anthony dug in his coat as he ran, searching for his firearm. "Oy! He's looking for a gun!" one of the members shouted.

"Well so do we you idiot. Put it to good use!"

Johanna turned and let out a scream as the member took out a pistol and aimed it at the sailor. The shot rang out through the streets, sending soft shudders through the windows and doors.

Anthony collapsed to the floor, his body crumpling in a horrifying position, right before Johanna's eyes.

**DUN DI DUN DUN DAH!!! Oh my dear Sweeney fans it would appear that I have left you with yet another cliffhanger. Ha I' m sorry…any who thank you all sssssssoooooooooo much for your reviews and I shall try t o update soon! Adios! **


	5. Chapter 5

"Ha, boy should know better," a member with a large scar on his cheek laughed.

Johanna knelt down and shrieked in both sorrow and terror.

"What about her," a young man asked, his dirty finger pointing in Johanna's direction.

"Search the boy for any goods and…do what you will with the _little girl._" He spat at her as hands immediately seized her, pinning her to the floor.

"Scream and you'll join your little boyfriend," a man sneered as he pressed his body on top of hers.

_BREAK FREE!!_

Johanna kicked and squirmed from beneath him, quickly losing any stamina that she had left. Finally, one of her blows did a small amount of damage.

"Ouch! You bitch!" he yelled in rage, sending a sharp slap to her face. Johanna's head hit the stone with a great force the moment the blow was delivered, causing her to cry out in pain.

"I said shut it!"

The girl laid limp, tears forming in her eyes as he began to fumble with her dress that Mrs. Lovett had given to her.

"Please do not do this," she begged as his grotesque breath fanned her face.

He let out a hearty laugh. "Try to enjoy this. Consider it a service. When I'm done, you'll be thanking me! There's a girl," he added as he began to undo the buttons on his pants.

"Please," she continued to say, aware that her words fell upon deaf ears. Damn deaf ears.

Her eyes shifted to the prone figure of Anthony, tears slipping from her lips as soon as she noticed the blood seeping from his body.

"I love you," she whispered to him, unsure if he could hear her. She guessed that he could not.

Sweeney Todd stared at the empty bed, cursing his ignorance.

_He should have kept a closer watch! Did he honestly think that Johanna would happily stay with him?_

"Goddamn idiot," he muttered to himself as he raced out of the room and out to the filthy, dark, and dangerous streets of London. Most whom he passed knew from his ghastly appearance that the man was not one to be bothered. Only the bold prostitutes threw out suggestions as he passed, receiving a look of pure annoyance and distaste. Robbers sent him one glance and continued stalking the night for easier targets.

_Where was Johanna? Had Anthony come back for her?_

He made sure to keep his razor in his hand, his grip tightening every so often when he thought of possible places his daughter could be.

_He would find her and once he had, he would never let her out of his sight again!_

The man sent searing kisses down her neck while the others sneered.

"Hurry it up, man! The boy's got nothing in his body except some cash. To tell you the truth, this is getting quite boring. If you're going to do it…do it!" the leader yelled.

The man nodded. "Are you ready, my dear?"

_No! She would not die so vulnerable…so helpless. If she were to die, then she would die fighting._

Johanna sent a hard blow to the man's shin. As he grabbed the area where she had given the kick, Johanna gulped in a deep breath of air, screaming at the top of her very lungs, "HELP!!"

The beggar woman let out a triumphant squeal the second she spotted a coin on the bottom of the stone road. Her hands dug through the filth of the floor until her hands brushed its smooth surface. It soon lay flat in the palm of her hand, but the smile that had just been on her face had vanished.

The changes that were taking place within her soon became frightening. She no longer called the baker woman a witch. She had ceased her mindless ranting of fire, smoke, and doom. There were only two things occupying her mind…surviving and the golden haired woman.

The golden haired woman…the very thought of her had sent shivers traveling down the beggar's spine. Her face, the child she was holding, the tragically beautiful way she held herself, these all continued to haunt the woman. _If only she knew the blonde's fate. If only she could grasp the memory that had been placed in her head, and had been mocking her ever since._

"HELP!!" a shrill scream came, startling the beggar so severely that she dropped the coin. It began to dawn on her that the scream was that of a young girl's. That could only mean…

_Oh. Oh god no! She knew what it meant! But how had she known? Had it ever happened to her before? Had her body ever been forced upon?_

A party. A drink. A Judge.

Though the intruding memories had just come back, yet again, reality was like a punch to the gut.

_She had to help. She had to save the girl from the blonde woman's fate._

The woman ran towards the sound of the scream, the coin lying on the ground, unimportant.

The man had given her yet another slap to the face. Johanna continued her struggle, making his attempts harder. He resorted to physical blows, leaving the girl gasping for air. Her eyes focused on a figure at the end of the alleyway. Uncaring of who it was she began to beg for assistance. The woman quickly turned and bounded in the other direction. "No!" _The hope was dead. _

Sweeney continued his search, his fear rapidly growing with every step that he took. _She was gone._

Out of nowhere, a woman approached him. She was grimy and dressed in tattered clothing. He realized that it was the same beggar that had stood outside of his very building, screaming of mischief, and always vexing Mrs. Lovett.

"Please, sir! There's a girl…men…she looks like the blonde woman!" Sweeney had absolutely no idea who the blonde woman was that the beggar was so vigorously referring to, but he did know that the feeling of dread in his body had signified his answer to where Johanna was. A girl…with men…needs his help…yeah, that was Johanna.

"Take me to them!" he commanded to the woman who began to run while screaming, "Oh, thank you, sir!"

They soon came to an alley where the woman pointed inside, her face crumpled in fear. "Hurry, Hurry!"

Mr. Todd lifted his razor and ran in, to reveal a most disturbing sight. A group of young men were crowded around another, one that was lying on top of a girl.

_His daughter._

"Hey, this is our alley. If you want some you'll have to go somewhere else!" the man said as he sat up.

Sweeney Todd crossed the distance between them and grabbed the man's neck.

"You're dead!"


	6. Chapter 6

**HAHAHA you guys are hysterical! I love your reviews! Keep it up! Totally great…I just couldn't start the story without saying something! Yes this is the chapter of truth every one! THE ALPHA OMEGA!! Hah naw I'm just kidding around. So read on readers! And I agree with this the most, Anthony interferes too much and Mr. Todd is a crazy (but sexy) killer! WOOP WOOP!**

Sweeney Todd gestured with his chin towards Johanna. "Cover her eyes!"

The beggar nodded her head and stumbled towards Johanna, holding her in an awkward embrace.

Memories…they never seemed to end. _A beautiful baby girl...so happy, and so much like her mother…_

Johanna let out a muffled sob into the strange woman's chest upon hearing the man who had tried to claim her, scream.

Mr. Todd drank in the sight of seeing the molester's throat dripping blood, the liquid staining his shirt.

"How dare you touch her!" he roared as he threw the body to the floor and turned to the other members.

His voice was treacherously low, sending the members into an unknown sense of dread. "Who's next?"

"Crazy bastard!" a small framed man yelled as he made for the exit, soon followed by the others.

_Give them a message!_

The crazed barber lifted his razor once more, this time sending the blade flying through the air and into the back of the gang leader's neck.

The members sent their companions a pitiful glance and continued running, shouting profanity and tripping over each other until they were out of sight.

Sweeney fought the powerful urge to turn dash forward and finish every single one of them off.

Johanna pulled away from the woman and made a pathetic attempt to crawl over to a form that was crumpled on the floor that had gone unnoticed by the man until that very moment. Her bruised hands lay on top of the heap as she groaned, "Anthony…oh wake up."

_Anthony! So he had taken her! _

Sweeney walked forward, unsure if the boy was even still living. He bent forward and turned the body upright, fearing what he might see.

Anthony's face was pale with one side displaying bright blue veins where his head had made contact with the floor. The sailor was breathing, but the breaths were raspy and slow.

Johanna laid her head on his chest. "Come back to me."

Her face held extraordinary shock when she heard him reply, "Johanna."

She lifted her face from his chest. "Anthony!"

The boy's head rolled, as if he were shaking his head. "I am sorry. I never should have t-taken you away from you-your father."

Johanna shook her head as well. "You did nothing wrong. He cannot be my father."

Anthony sighed. "Johanna… he is. I should have seen it. Why do you think I fell in love with you?"

Johanna's head bent. "I do not know."

"I fell in love because beneath you, Johanna, I saw Mr. Todd…a man who I tried to save from the raging seas and from the painful ghosts that had continued to haunt him. I saw him in you, Johanna."

Anthony turned his head towards his friend with great difficulty. "I apologize, s-sir."

Johanna gripped his arm.

"I love you, dear. P-please be good to him. He deserves a family and you a f-father."

The boy's breathing became labored. His last sentence shook the barber to the core.

"I hope that you find the barber's wife, Mr. Todd."

And then he died. Anthony Hope was completely, absolutely, dead.

Johanna gripped his limp hand.

Sweeney knelt on both of his knees so that he was level with his daughter.

She stared openly at Anthony, her eyes almost as lifeless as his. "Why is he growing cold?" she asked quietly.

"Johanna…he is dead."

Her blank face turned towards his. "He can't be. He promised he would always be beside me. In the shadows…"

The barber shook his head. "We must go."

The young girl's eyes began to mist. "He's not dead! He's not dead!" she chanted, as if she were trying to convince herself. Sobs rippled through her body in shuddering waves. "Ant-Anthony, come back, come back," her voice hoarse, the tears seeming to never end. Blood seeped through her dress, causing the man next to her to jump in horror.

"Johanna, you are injured! Please, come!"

She wept, the salt water falling onto their clasped hands. "Please let me join hi-…let me…"

Johanna shivered as her dress continued to bleed, the girl's eyes closing as she made small attempts to breathe correctly.

Sweeney Todd grasped her arms and laid her down into his. His strong arms wrapped around her frail body as he lifted her from the ground, nodding his head solemnly in acknowledgement towards the dead boy. While holding Johanna in one arm, he bent forward, plucked his blade out of the dead gang member's neck, pocketed it, and returned his free arm to the girl's wilted form.

As he exited the alley, he realized that the beggar woman, who had assisted him, had vanished.

_Shame…without her, my daughter could have been dead or…_

Sweeney frowned, forcing the thought out of his mind as he made his way through the night and back home.

`The homeless woman had run from the alley undetected, and unable to watch the melancholy seen that had taken place.

_That poor girl…so lost…so alone…so much like the blonde woman…and that man! Dear lord, that man's familiarity would be the death of her! So many faces… How they both reminded her of someone, yet there was always the same questions. Who did it remind her of?_

The woman let out a shriek of frustration while she crossed the street, cursing her damned memory.

"Who's this?! Who's that?!" She clenched her fists and paced into a street filled with abandoned homes. "Where are you from?!" The woman walked towards a cracked window, gazing at her broken reflection.

"WHO ARE YOU??!!" she screamed as she smashed her reflection with her bare hands. Pain jolted up her arms causing her to fall to the ground, head in hands. The glass crunched beneath her weight and pierced her skin.

"Who am I?" 


	7. Chapter 7

Sweeney Todd flexed the arm that was supporting Johanna's back, the muscle slightly sore from carrying her around for what seemed like miles. A strange sort of comfort washed over him the moment he caught sight of his home, thankful that he had gotten his daughter home…and alive. The man came up to the door to Mrs. Lovett's pie shop and balanced Johanna so that one of his hands was free to open the door.

Upon hearing her door open, Mrs. Lovett woke with a start. She sent a glance toward Toby's sleeping face and stood from her chair, loathing the way the way the cold air nipped at her skin. The baker walked into her shop, blinking in surprise when she found Mr. Todd grasping his daughter's unconscious form.

"Mr. T, what happened?! I didn't even know you had left!"

Sweeney grimaced. "Johanna…she needs…_help_."

Mrs. Lovett nodded her head. "Take her into the parlor. My chair should be good," the woman said, hoping that she was showing compassion that just might make him love…

He walked out of the room and placed Johanna in the chair. The man continued to stare at his daughter's face as he spoke. "Do you know how to heal injuries?"

"I suppose…but-," he interrupted her. "She was beaten by gang members. I think she'll be alright but that sailor boy is dead."

The baker woman walked over to the girl and leaned over her. "What happened to the bunch of hooligans?"

"You know."

Mrs. Lovett thought to herself. _Of _course_ she knew. She would be an idiot if she didn't. He killed them…after all it was his girl they were after. If only he would do those things for her. _

After a quick inspection, she turned and declared, "It's nothing that won't heal. I just don't know how she'll cope without the boy…Oh Mr. Todd you look exhausted! You should rest!"

He gave her a cold glance and muttered, "I need to take care of Johanna right now."

"She'll need plenty of bed, love," Mrs. Lovett added. _Did the man even notice that she cared for him?_

He stood, his bones cracking from the effort. Almost effortlessly, he scooped his daughter into his arms and made his way to his shop.

Mrs. Lovett walked after him. "How do you know she won't go on trying to escape again?"

Sweeney paused in his movements. "I don't think she will try anything of the sort. Not after tonight."

He had brought the girl upstairs and placed her in the small bed that he never had used. Johanna stirred slightly, her breathing deep with fatigue. Unsure of what to do with himself, Mr. Todd backed into the barber chair, facing his daughter sleeping form. It seemed as if only a few minutes had passed when the dark sky began to play with golden beams.

Mrs. Lovett knocked on the door and opened it, her hands filled with a tray of food. Her voice pierced the air, as it usually tended to do.

"I know, I know. You probably won't eat it, so just give it to Johanna." She placed the tray on his table and stood her hands on hips. "What do you plan on doing with her?"

_What _was_ he going to do?_

"I never really had time to think it through…I suppose I shall try to simply raise her properly….I-I never thought I was going to see her again…"

Mrs. Lovett exhaled. "I know, dear. I think you were trying to say goodbye to her…you know before the night you two met. Guess you were trying to keep the memory of her as a baby, but you know, she is a grown girl and she is here…you'll just have to try to get to know her."

The woman turned on her heals, and paused at the door. "I'm going to help, you know…motherly affection and all that."

He sat still.

_Motherly affection…should not that come from her actual mother?_

Mrs. Lovett left the silence, deflated due do his lack of response towards her.

Hours dragged on, each more painful than the last. Still, Johanna slept, her brows pulled together as if she slept in unremitting pain.

Sweeney had a small measure of gratitude toward Mrs. Lovett, for she had the decency to close booth of their shops, but she never came back up. Soon, the twinge of thankfulness he had towards her diminished as his thoughts raged on.

_The infuriating woman had the audacity to tell him that he would never see Lucy again, and then pledges her devotion to him as if he were a bachelor! Nothing would ever banish the love he had towards his wife…not even the fact that he could barely remember her face._

Johanna turned on her side, her front faced towards him.

Memories were more painful than the cut of a razor…

15 years. He had worked, praying that his hard labor would earn him his freedom. Instead, he was made to work harder. The harsh beatings he had undergone, the sickness from the other men, the cold and rainy days he worked through, these all seemed like minor excuses to the barber. One does not just _forget_ their wife.

The barber had lain in his cell, on one of the first few days he had arrived in the penal area. Oh, the suffering, how he wept for the family he had once had…how he would never kiss the face of his own lover. How he would never hold the baby girl that made the world brighter. He had shown her the small wonders of the world, naming them and savoring the big eyes that studied him, almost as if she were keeping his face saved for her recollection. So many blurred delusions of them…they would appear on the other side of his barred cell. They would do nothing other than smile at him. He would reach his shaking hand towards them, but he would never reach them. Soon, the peaceful faces would fade, leaving him wishing for death.

On one of the few weeks after arriving, he felt a great pain in his chest. His sore body collapsed on the floor, the guards ready to drag away yet another "stiff". But he was not dead, no; the good lord would have been too kind if he were to grant him death at that moment. Instead, the innocent convict was whipped for his disobedience, tears comingling with his blood. It was at the moment, he could feel that something was wrong. Something had happened to his Lucy. He could feel it. And every moment of him not knowing what horrible thing that his dear wife had gone through, was a living hell.

He would be working in an area meant for punitive labor. They would force him to work the crank machine, a device that served no purpose other than making him turn a level that sent paddles through a pool of sand. His hands would bleed, the guards would laugh; his tears soon became cold, lesser and lesser until the tears fell no more.

It was then Benjamin Barker learned his most powerful lesson. He had learned how to hate. He hated the judge for sending him to his doom, he hated the soldiers for keeping them there, and he hated the inmates who willingly did as they were told. He hated them all, and death would soon be their punishment…even his.

His escape had not been an easy one. The night itself was a distorted vision. He had not killed that night, though. He had deceived, he had snuck through dark passages, but he had not killed. The raft he made for the ocean had taken months of preparation. Luckily, he had kept it hidden among an area of planted trees, the area where he was forced to collect wood for the cabins they were making. The idiots had not noticed his secluded area; they simply saw interest in making the men prepare cabins that were never to be used. Hard labor had no purpose, it was simply a punishment.

The night of his escape, he took the makeshift raft and slipped himself into the water. It was a warm night, he remembered. The thoughts of the man were none other than to get home. That pain he had felt for his wife now existed for his daughter. With determination, he drifted out to the open ocean, prepared to save his family from the fates that he feared.

No doubt, it was one of the most reckless things he had ever done. As if on purpose, a storm descended upon him, tossing his small raft about, the water churning. Benjamin Barker had held on for his life, shivering from the water that continuously drenched him. If Anthony Hope and his ship had not sighted him, he would not have been lost still. He would have been dead.

The sailors had pulled him on board. He had been given a room, where Anthony would visit and service him. They asked his name, they demanded to know where he was going. For a strange reason, the old barber only told Anthony the answers to their questions. Maybe it was because the boy had saved his life, maybe it was because he considered the sailor to be his friend. He did not know. At the time, nothing mattered…nothing except Lucy and Johanna.

The name Sweeney Todd had been a random name that seemed to fit his inner thoughts and his outside appearance. In his heart, he knew that the Benjamin Barker he once was would never be able to live the way he once had. Never…so he gave himself an alias.

Stress had taken its toll on the escaped man, most observably on his face, and even on his body. The most noticeable of changes was his hair. A long whit streak had grown into his wild hair, giving the black hair a sharp contrast with the white. His face had grown hallow, his cheeks sunken and pale. The once brown eyes became black. They had not naturally changed color. They had changed because of the thing he had seen, the emotion he had felt. The barber's body was quite skinny, the lack of food altering his eating patterns. He no longer ate like a normal human being. In fact, he barely ate at all. He barely slept as well. IF the living dead had any sort of traits, then those traits were shared with Sweeney Todd, for he himself could easily have been mistaken for a dead man.

Nothing was the same in London. He knew it, he sensed it. The ghosts roamed the streets without purpose, the criminals and prostitutes stalked without moral. Sweeney Todd prepared himself as he entered his severely altered home. When the woman with dark red hair that was once his landlady had told him of his family's fate…he of course, was upset, but he did not expect anything less of horrible. The tears that misted his black eyes never fell. The pity that mingled in his mind was swallowed up by revulsion and retribution. Turpin along with the whole human race would be punished. They would be punished just as he had. It would bring the barber the salvation that he hungered for, the loathing for the world that he harbored. It was a war against him and the world.

It's quite amusing how one person can change the way you feel towards every single human in existence. Lucy's fate had given him the key to vengeance. Turpin's jealousy had provided the man with motivation to murder. Mrs. Lovett's plan had given him the humor to watch man eat man so very ignorantly. But…one person had changed his purpose in life. Lucy had fed his love, but she was…away. Lucy had not delivered the salvation he needed. Turpin's death did not cease his bloodlust either. Not one of them had saved him. Johanna had.

Sweeney Todd straightened as Johanna's eyes slowly opened, his thoughts returning to the present.

It was no other person in this world. Johanna had given him freedom. The girl had not even done anything specific besides simply being in the same house, the same floor, the same room as he was. She was there. Johanna, the little baby girl with the large blue eyes lay before him in the flesh, alive.

Sweeney Todd had had yet another epiphany. Johanna was his life now. Benjamin Barker seemed to stir inside of his soul. He could feel the young man he once was, yearning to care for his child, wanting to love her. Perhaps, Benjamin was not dead. Maybe…Benjamin lived, but stayed hidden from the world and its cruelties. The innocent man roamed through the mind of Sweeney Todd, frowning at the evil deeds that had been committed and reassured Mr. Todd that he would find salvation through his daughter. Sweeney realized that Barker existed for only one purpose, and that was to love and protect his family. He was not gone. Benjamin had stayed with him when he was sweating in the Australian sun, when he was informed of the fate of his family, when he had spared the lives of men who had families to love. Sweeney sighed, silently welcoming Benjamin into his mind and soul. _I am sorry_. _I have missed you. _

*************************************************************************************

**Alright guys…I'm not going to lie here. This is my absolute favorite chapter. I was literally crying when I wrote it. I'm sorry for the wait everybody. So tell your friends and leave a review…geez my computer is flipping wet! Justin had no idea what he was talking about when he sang cry me a river. I cried him a freaking ocean. **


	8. Chapter 8

"Sir..?"

Sweeney Todd stared at his daughter, her body sitting up.

"Ho-how are you feeling?" he stuttered.

She looked down. "Where is Anthony?"

_SON OF A BI-_

"He's dead, isn't he?"

Her body sagged and her shoulders began to shake. "Oh, I'm so sorry, sir," she wept.

That's when Sweeney Todd felt his eyes burn. Benjamin Barker mourned for her. The barber had not cried since he was sent away and his eyes had never actually _misted_ since he learned of his wife and her death. But, here he was, the demon barber of Fleet Street, crying for his suffering girl.

The damned tears rolled down his pale face, angering him. With a frustrated growl, he brought his sleeve up to his face and rubbed his skin dry.

Johanna held herself while muttering muffled apologies. The barber stood and moved towards her, more careful of his movements than he had ever been in his life. Slowly, ever so slowly, he knelt on the floor beside the small bed, his face looking into her flushed and wet one.

Old black eyes met innocent, big, blue eyes.

"I am sorry, Johanna," his whispered, his voice not louder than that of a rustle of silk.

"You are my father, aren't you?" she asked in a watery voice.

He nodded his head in response. "Yes, I very much am."

Her eyes averted to the floor. "I have always wanted a father. One that loves me and protects me…" her voice cracked. "Where have you been all of these years?"

_What the hell was he going to tell her?_

He looked at the sheet of the bed, his mind whirling.

_She had lived a life filled with pure lies…_

His gaze flicked to her eyes once more. Johanna deserved the honest truth, and that was what he would give her.

"When I was married to your mother, and when you were born…we were very happy. The world was a brighter place, Johanna. Your eyes hold doubt; I assure you your mother had the power to light a pitch black room."

Johanna noticed a slight smile on his lips at a foreign remembrance. "Was she beautiful?"

His eyes lightened. "The most striking woman in all of London, but her appearance wasn't all that I fell in love with. No…it was her kindness. From the moment I first saw her, I found her irresistible. She had shown me what is was like to be loved, seeing that I was an orphan. I apologize; there are no grandparents for you, dear, for her parents are dead as well. As I was saying, she…she was a very considerate person. Unfortunately, I was not the only man to have had deep _feelings_ for her."

The last sentence he had said made the smile vanish and his eyes darken once more.

"There was another, sir?"

He inhaled. "Yes, there was another man, if he has the privilege to be called such. Upon seeing her, he was attracted to her. But, I was in the way. Seeing that he was a judge, he sent me to a penal colony where I was out of his way."

Johanna furrowed her brow. "A judge?" She searched his eyes for the answer. It dawned upon her all too quickly. Her face held pure disgust and horror; she looked as if she had just been stabbed in her gut.

"No." She shook her head in denial.

"Yes. Judge Turpin."

She sat deliberating for a while before muttering, "Go on."

"Well, after I returned home-" Johanna cut him off.

"Pardon me, sir, but he let you return home?"

_Brilliant...she'll be completely glad to know that her father was an escaped convict!_

"No, I was not released, Johanna. I…"

_She would be terrified. What had he done?_

Johanna's face cleared. "Oh, I see. You escaped from prison to…get back to your family. I must say, that is very admirable of you sir."

Shock absorbed Mr. Todd's brain.

Johanna gazed at her folded hands. "What happened to my mother?"

All of the years of torture and sickness were almost incomparable to the hurt that came with his tale. "Turpin lured her to a party, using my _freedom_ as a trap, and drugged her…causing her _weakness._ She could not fight him…she could not do anything…and all _they_ did was laugh. He hurt her to the point where she though life, unbearable. She bought arsenic and drank it which resulted in her…parting from us…"

"You mean to say that she is dead, sir?"

"Well, in a direct way of speaking, yes…she is."

Johanna unfolded her hands and pointed to the space on the side of the bed. "Please, sit. There is plenty of room…and the floor looks very uncomfortable."

He hesitantly sat next to her, his spine straight and stiff.

Johanna broke yet another long period of silence. "I thought that Turpin loved me…I mean he said he did. But, I suppose sending someone to a mental hospital when they are perfectly fine in the head does not really show love towards someone."

It sounded as if she were making a joke. One does not necessarily here that a guardian had sent his young ward to a mad house filled with raving lunatics.

Yet, Johanna's face was very grim. "I do not understand many things, sir. I no longer doubt the fact that you are my father, but I don't suppose I can trust you without knowing the entire truth. Did you kill my guardian?"

Well, this was the point where Sweeney's honesty was truly tested. If she did not understand, well…hopefully she would. "Yes, I admit to killing him."

She nodded her head and looked away from him. "I had a feeling. Don't be afraid, sir. I understand why you did it. Believe me; I do not mourn him in any way."

"Thank you for understanding. I repent for terrifying you that night."

Johanna half smiled and it too soon faded. "Sir, I have a very serious question to ask you."

The worst of questions, in his opinion, had already been asked. "Of course."

She fumbled with the blanket on the bed. "Those men in the alley…the things they did. Were they supposed to do that? I do not comprehend any of it. I was told that only fathers were allowed to do such things."

Sweeney suck in a deep breath of shock. "Who the hell told you that?"

Johanna gave him a blank look. "The only father I had ever known until now. He informed me that it was a father's duty to have his daughter, either to shield her from the misogynists of the world, or to help her experience lust. Are you going to do those things to me too?"

Sweeney corrected his thoughts. _THIS_ was no doubt, the worst question that had ever been asked.

"Johanna, I want you to listen to me. A father's obligations are not to do _anything_ such as that. A father is there to protect you, never to hurt you or make you feel uncomfortable. Did you ever resist him?"

"Oh, sir, he was simply too strong. It never felt right, I swear it didn't. I promise you I never entertained any of his longings, they both could rot for all I cared."

"What do you mean, _neither_ of them?"

"The beadle was also very demanding."

Sweeney stood up and practically ran to his table and stared into the mirror. His empty stomach heaved and he silently gagged at the very thought of those…_bastards_ keeping a young teenage girl simply locked up and…

"How long had this been going on?"

"Have I done something wrong?"

He grew even angrier. "HOW LONG HAD THIS BEEN GOING ON?!"

Her eyes widened in surprise, causing her to bow her head and hide her shock. "I'm not very sure, sir. I suppose…since I was thirteen years of age."

Thirteen years old…Practically a youngling.

He looked upon Johanna's reflection, noticing how her head bent and her hand trembled. How Benjamin wanted to comfort her, to tell her that she was now safe, to stroke her yellow hair…

He remembered the tray of food that Mrs. Lovett had brought up previously. The plates clinked together softly as he lifted it and turned towards the girl.

"You must be famished," he noted as he placed the food on her lap. "Eat."

She looked at him questioningly before picking up a piece of bread and nibbled at the corner of it.

He turned away from her, finding only comfort in looking at his picture frame. Lucy's smiling face brought him even more anguish.

_Oh, Lucy. What would you have done?_

Johanna stood with the tray in her hands and walked towards him. "I really was not very hungry, but I did have a little."

He whirled around and took it from her. "I must see Mrs. Lovett. She will inspect you for any injury. I will return soon," he mumbled as he began to walk out. He turned towards her and commanded her, "Stay in bed," before walking downstairs, tray in hand.

Mrs. Lovett stood, wiping her counter top while Toby swept the floor with a thin broom. Her dark hair flew as she looked up at the man who had just entered her shop, powder dusting off of her black dress.

"How is Johanna," Mrs. Lovett asked. Toby glanced at the woman.

"She should be inspected, now."

Toby's heart tempo increased. "Why? Was Johanna hurt?"

The baker gently ruffled his hair. "Toby, dear, Johanna was hurt by bad men when she went into the streets at night. This is a very important lesson for us all. Never go out at night unless you are protected," Mrs. Lovett smiled, "Or unless you have a rolling pin with you!"

Toby let out a nervous laugh. Mrs. Lovett always knew how to make him feel better. How he loved her!

"You know, dear, Johanna is Mr. T's daughter."

Toby's shocked expression made Mrs. Lovett giggle. "You have a family?"

Sweeny Todd scowled. "No, hell simply spit me out, a full grown man with no blood ties at all. Honestly, boy. Use your head."

Toby looked at his scuffed shoes. They were far less threatening.

"Anyway," the baker said in partial defense to the boy, "let's go see your girl, Mr. T."


	9. Chapter 9

**Alright guys, this is a very sad and somewhat disturbing part of the story. Read on, but be warned…I aim to make my readers feel deep emotions. Thank you everyone for reviewing and I would like to send a special shout out to the people who have review once, twice, and constantly… MindnaLovesLinktotheendofTime, Miz. Jynx, Emma, Mandy, Millix, Spitfire47, Ravencaller, Bread and Beans, Butterflygirl1234, and XxSephFan777xX. You guys have been awesome with the comments, and you have really encouraged me to write more stories and get going on Fanfiction. You guys rock, seriously, love you guys! Now…It's Sweeney b****!**

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The bells on the shop's door made Johanna jump in surprise, nearly knocking her off the bed.

"It's alright, love. It's only us," Mrs. Lovett assured the fearful girl.

Johanna noticeably relaxed upon hearing the woman's words, her body laying flat against the bed and her breathing, stable.

The group approached the small bed, slowly but with determination in their step.

Sweeney gazed down at the girl, blinked, and looked away. _Could he stay upset forever? Had she really done something so immensely wrong that he had to punish her with his unbearable silence? After all, she was the one who had been battered…_

"Now," Mrs. Lovett sighed. "I'm going to need you two," Mrs. Lovett fixed her gaze to Toby and Mr. Todd, "to leave the room."

"Pardon me?" The man asked, his eyes holding the impending storm that was longing to be released.

"Well, a girl her age would probably…you know…want a little privacy…"

Sweeney Todd cleared his throat and turned to walk outside, just as he was instructed. "When you put it that way…" he muttered as he opened the door and stepped out, closely followed by Toby. The door closed with a thud, only to be opened by the barber once more. "Uh, you'll inform me when you are done?" he asked, his eyes no longer threatening.

"Of course, now…see you later Mr. T!"

Johanna hushed a giggle at the man's discomfited expression, which soon disappeared.

Mrs. Lovett grinned at the girl's muffled laughter. "He means well, yet he can be quite amusing at times. But, that's our Mr. T!" Mrs. Lovett's face fell. "Alright, dear, if any of this is going to work, it will require you stripping to your undergarments. Oh, don't be frightened, it's for the best. If I know what injuries you have acquired, then they can be healed!"

Johanna's face fell as well, her swollen eyes beginning to water. "Please, I don't want you to see," she begged.

"Your father wants to make sure you are well, Johanna."

Johanna shook her head violently and bit her lip, soon drawing red droplets of blood.

"If I am not informed, then you cannot be helped…"

The girl's slender hands grasped at the neckline of her dress. "I-I…I don't know how to take this off. I always had someone _else_ do it for me."

"I understand, dearie. Here, turn around." Mrs. Lovett's fingers unlaced the cloth.

"Poor thing, now I understand why you refused to change your dress for the few days you were here."

"I was only here for two days, Mrs."

The woman brushed the dress off of her shoulders. "I know…now just pull this dress off and we can get on with this."

The dress soon lay crumpled on the bed, leaving Johanna in her white under dress, blushing.

"Alright, this is where you need to cooperate."

Ashamed, Johanna closed her eyes, loathing what she knew she had to do. "Just do it," she choked out.

Mrs. Lovett nodded to herself. "First, I need to check your upper body. Lie still, that's a girl."

Dark bruises decorated Johanna's collar bone. There were indications of scars on her shoulders, the pink lines creating patterns on her pale skin. A long, deep cut oozed blood along her abdomen. Pus began to crust the edges of the wound.

Mrs. Lovett noted the spot mentally and went over to the bottles of alcohol and bandages she had brought with her. Knowing that alcohol could clean a wound and having bandages for the burns she would receive from the pies, the baker silently applauded herself for being prepared.

"Right, this will sting a bit, but it's going to clean that nasty cut you've got there."

The girl let out a shriek of pain as the alcohol burned at her open wound, causing Sweeney, who still remained outside, to fold his arms tightly around his chest as if it were a restraint.

"It's okay! I'm going to wipe you off and it should all be well. But you will need stitching…."

Johanna whimpered in fear. "Please make this stop."

"Here take a sip; ease the pain." Johanna took the glass of alcohol that was handed to her and drank greedily from the cup, savoring the numbing sensation that it so mercifully had given her.

"I want you to close your eyes, now."

She did so, the slight daylight sun turning the inside of her eyelids a faint orange.

The first tug of skin from the needle was sickening to the teenager. She searched for a distraction from all of the suffering and torture that came with the only task she had ever known. Living. Perhaps a memory, a thought, could assist her as she laid, her body being stitched as if it were a rag doll.

_Anthony... his compassion, his love for her…but who else. Who else cared for her? Her lost mother…her tormented father. Her father. _

"All done, you did so well!" Mrs. Lovett complimented.

Johanna sat up, wincing at the pain that jabbed at her wounded area.

"Time for the lower body, oh, you'll be fine."

The woman frowned as Johanna clutched at the bed sheets, her knuckles turning white as tears slid down her pale face and into her hair.

Mrs. Lovett inspected the lower part of the girl's body, just as she had done with the upper part.

"Johanna…it doesn't look good here at all," Mrs. Lovett said quietly.

Johanna let out a sob. "I…I…"

Mrs. Lovett continued to stare at the dreadful, yet seemingly permanent, marks and tears that adorned her lower structure. "Did those men do this?"

Johanna breathed deeply. "No, my previous…_guardian_ did."

The woman looked around the room, her face blank. "Oh." Her eyes assessed the girl before her once more before she stood. "Other injuries…very horrible…I don't believe they will go away…Put this on, oh never mind. I shall get you a new dress, one moment," she said brokenly as she walked out to her bedroom.

The woman's bedroom was too, on the second floor. It was located near the Barker's old bedroom, but not too close. As she searched through all of her old dresses, she picked up a relatively new one. She stifled a sneeze, for her room was very dusty, and observed the dress that she had picked. It was blue with white stripes, similar to another one that she owned. A pretty pastel for a pretty young lady… It would be perfect.

Mrs. Lovett's mind whirled as she gave the dress to the girl, who accepted with polite manners_. How did this girl simply sit here after all of the horrors she must have endured? How strong was Johanna? Would she poison herself like her mother or would she indulge in helpless rage like her father? Or was she handling her life in an entirely different way? A possibly more dangerous manner…?_

Johanna fastened the dress, with the help of Mrs. Lovett, and gazed at her reflection in the shattered mirror. Though it was clearly a distorted image, she did not question how the mirror came to be broken. She just stared at her reflection with a slight hint of revulsion in her gaze, her efforts of hiding her thoughts, not very effective.

"I am very proud of you, Johanna. I shall go and get your father now. I'll be back in a tick." Mrs. Lovett scurried out of the shop and into the cool air.

Mr. Todd and Toby stood at the foot of the stairs in silence. Sweeney unfolded his arms and walked forward, prepared to hear of his daughter's condition. His face held bewilderment upon seeing Mrs. Lovett's thunderous expression. "She has been abused," Mrs. Lovett growled dangerously.

"She told me."

"Well the injuries the boys gave her will be fine, but the injuries that _he_ gave her…are…unable…to…be…fixed!" Mrs. Lovett's voice added emphasis with the last few words. "God in heaven, the girl may never be able to have children, let alone a steady relationship!!"

Sweeney walked towards the room. "Believe me, I wish he were still alive so I could have the pleasure of ki-" he stopped, remembering that Toby was right next to him. Toby did not seem to pick up on the unfinished sentence the barber had just said. Sweeney opened his mouth as if he were to say something, shook his head, and disappeared into the shop.

"I know, Mr. Todd. I know," Mrs. Lovett said to herself.

_If Judge Turpin were still alive…I would have enjoyed killed him too. Oh, Johanna. What has happened to you?__**  
**_

Mrs. Lovett was suddenly struck with envy. Envious that Mr. Todd had had the pleasure of slitting Turpin's throat. She was envious…so envious. For once, she wanted revenge. Revenge for the world, revenge for the loss of an innocent. Revenge for Johanna Barker.


	10. Chapter 10

Johanna sat back onto the bed with a sigh, her curios eyes observing the outside sky. London's sky was never a brilliant shade of blue. No, instead, it was a melancholic grey with, if one was luck, a golden beam of light infiltrating the gloom.

Sweeney Todd entered the shop, unable to say anything to the young teenage girl who had delicately place herself on the small cot. He shot her a glance, turned away, and walked towards the window, silently questioning himself. _Was it not just a few days ago when he was begging for his family to return to him? Was he so blind that he did not realize that his dying wish had been sitting down on the mattress, right in the corner of his very room? _

Outside, the streets bustled with its morning strollers. A woman carried a young child in her arms, her eyes anxiously glancing around her, well aware of the dangers she faced alone in the hazardous world. A man walked in step with an elderly gentleman, the man's face wrinkled with previous smiles.

Sweeney clenched his jaw as he gazed at the scene. What he had previously referred to as "vermin", Benjamin Barker mutely protested them as being "innocents". The internal battle raged within him, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut and clench his fists until his knuckles had become white.

Too consumed in his thoughts, the man did not notice his only daughter struggle to her feat and limp towards him. In the corner of his eye, Todd noticed her fair haired head stop at the window, causing him to fully turn and face her. She did not return the stare; she simply continued to observe the outside world.

"Turpin had me shut up in a room when I had lived with him. Surprisingly, I was allowed a key to the house, but I was forbidden to leave my room if it was not upon his request. But, I did make efforts to escape. I even once made it to the front door, only to be caught by his good friend Bamford. Yes, the Beadle was utterly horrible. He would make a game of breaking the necks of birds-my birds- the only things that I were allowed to have that I actually held dear to my heart. They would sing as they stared outside, longing to see the world…but never were they permitted to reach it."

The barber could sense the connection that Johanna made between the birds and herself.

"Personally, I know that my gilded cage will haunt me forever. One would think that a young rich girl who resided with one of the most powerful men in all of London…would be happy. But, how could l? I do not wish to appear spoiled sir, yet all I have ever wanted was to go outside. Being locked up all of those years truly drained every ounce of joy that I had managed to sneak when I was spending my days in retched solitude. Never was I able to feel the rain on my hands, the wind in my hair, the sun on my skin…"

Johanna's voice broke off, irritating her and causing her to clear her throat and continue.

"Do you think that I can do it, sir? Do you suppose that I can go outside and wallow in its wonders? Would you allow it?"

The longing in her voice! How could someone be as self conceited as that blasted judge and lock up a young girl and steal her away from the fresh air, civilization, her family?!

"Of course, but only when you have healed." Once more, their eyes met. She looked down, notably embarrassed.

"Thank you, sir." Upon the opportunity, his eyes left her face and darted to the dark buildings that stood outside.

"Have I done something wrong?" her voice wavered.

Mr. Todd sucked in a gulp of air through his teeth. "No."

"Then why do you show such negative attitude when you are around me. Oh, I see…it is because I ran away, isn't it?"

"NO! It's not! Do you understand what that bastard did to you, girl? Are you so educationally deprived that you do not understand that he took your innocence? And here you are, standing here, not thanking _God _that you are alive, but wishing to go outside as if you are perfectly fine?"

He trudged over to a smaller window and rested his arm against the window's pane, painfully begging for forgiveness. He had definitely gone too far.

"I do not wish to show weakness, Mr. Todd. I am well aware of what he did to me, but that does not mean that I should not be allowed to live life to the fullest of extents, especially when it is a minor thing such as standing outside."

Sweeney rubbed his throbbing head. "I apologize. You did nothing wrong. It was him…and he is dead. I should not have said those things."

_Honestly, Mr. Todd how hard is it to realize you were wrong? Leave the girl be, she has been through enough, _Benjamin argued in his mind.

_I know, I apologized, didn't I?!_

_Look at her, your making her cry. Your own daughter and you are making her suffer…_

Sweeney lurched forward and wiped the tears off of her face, every inch of his face holding guilt. She lifted her hand and placed it on top of his shoulder.

"I really should thank you…you saved me, sir...From Turpin and those men."

_God, now she was _thanking_ him!_

"I-…you are welcome," he replied. His baffled gaze made her pull away, afraid that her act of affection had been of some sort of offense. For moments, they simply stared into each other's face, allowing the horrors they had been through to simply flow through their eyes. They allowed the hopes of their past to be shown only to be crushed by the demeaning truth.

"Sir-father," Johanna croaked. "I-It is true what you said the night we were reunited. You are all I have got." Tears slid down her cheekbones, only to be wiped away by her father again. He rested his palm on the side of her face, her hand slipping on top of his. Her eyes closed, her face holding tranquility as their hands touched.

_The only family she would ever be allowed to have…_

He raised his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, holding her close to him. She buried her face into his crisp linen shirt as he tucked the top of her head under his chin. It had been so long since he had had felt the pleasure of holding his girl in his arms. His eyes too, closed and he visualized that he was holding the little baby that gurgled with joy when she was held by him…

"I will protect you. You will never be hurt again, I swear it," Sweeney swore to the sobbing girl.

Johanna looked up towards the male, her eyes red, yet her lips, for once, smiling. "I love you, father."

"I…I love you as well, Johanna."

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The man sent searing kissed down the woman's jaw bone and back up to her soft rosy lips. The woman placed her hand on his back as he grazed her earlobe with his teeth, sending shivers up her spine. They shared one last kiss before pulling away. Exhausted, the blonde laid her head on the man's chest. "Oh, my Benjamin," she breathed as she placed her mouth on his neck, her fingers tracing patterns in his skin. "My sweet Lucy," he moaned.

The beggar felt a rough hand shake her shoulder violently. With a yelp, she sat up, angered that the glorious dream had been interrupted. "Don't you realize that you are blocking this whole here walkway, woman?" The man grabbed her arm and shoved her backward, causing her to hit her head on the stone wall behind her.

"Don't you touch me!"

"Just who do you think you are, ordering me about?"

The beggar opened her mouth and replied, "Lucy Barker!" The name had not been a random choice. In her dreams, her visions, they all started to make her believe that she…the homeless nobody…was once the glorious Lucy. She was! This was who she was! But…where was Benjamin…and her daughter? What cruel fate had they undergone?

"Oh, you're Lucy Barker, eh? Aint you supposed to be the wife of the bloke who got shipped off to the other half of the world?"

Lucy blinked. "What?"

The man snorted. "Yeah, you're Mrs. Barker. Like hell you are!"

The male walked to the end of the street. "And stay out of the walkways!" he added before disappearing from sight.

Lucy ignored his rude manner, but not what he had said about Benjamin. She turned and walked openly, to an unknown destination.

"Shipped off to the other side of the world?" she asked herself. "My husband?"

Was he really gone? Was he as dead as the sunlight in this world of hate and despair? Lucy suddenly stopped, her mind overcome with dim memories. So dim, only the outlines could be seen. Yet, a certain concept was grasped by the woman.

"Benjamin Barker committed no crime!" She turned the corner, now speaking to her lost lover as if he was right beside her. "Benjamin, if you have parted from this world…then soon enough…I shall join you. But if you are still alive…know that I love you…perhaps someday we will meet again, you, me, and…our daughter."

_The daughter whose name escapes me, yet again!_

Lucy began to tremble upon the very thought of what could have happened to her loving husband. "Oh, my sweet Benjamin, where has the world taken you?"

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**Hey guys, sorry I took so damn long to update. I repent and would also like to thank LionkingLover for the reviews as well. Everybody, thank you so much! Tell me what you think so far of the story and even what you want to see happen. I love hearing you guys and your opinions! It's so fun writing about the soft side of a demonic barber! And I think I am going to make a funny story about Sweeney too, so be on the look out! Now…you will review...review…review… (I'm a crazy) **


	11. Chapter 11

Mrs. Lovett sunk down into her chair, exhausted from the emotional burden she had been carrying. Mr. Todd had been taking his precious time when it came back to opening his shop once again, angering the woman. Money did not last forever, after all, and his business gave her business. It was either a win situation between the two, or they both would lose. The meat pies new ingredients could not exist without their special _meat. _Mrs. Lovett had, yet again, sent Toby out to get regular meat from the butcher. Honestly, humans were so much cheaper…

Mrs. Lovett rose from the chair quickly the moment she heard the man's footsteps. Her chin rose with frustration as he stood before her, his face unable to be interpreted.

"Mr. Todd, we have things to discuss about our…"

He interrupted her. "I'm through."

Mrs. Lovett furrowed her brow. "What do you mean you're done?"

Todd did not meet her scrutinizing gaze. "I wish to be an actual barber, once more. I refuse to take part any longer in the acts I have previously committed. I also have gotten what I have wanted for the past fifteen years. Now, it should be over." He gestured outside of the room with one hand. "Besides, my _daughter_ is here…"

The woman stood, infuriated, yet making an effort to control her unjustified outrage. "You're ready to go on quitting our business because of Johanna?"

He shook his head. "Have you had no regrets of doing this while Toby was here? Did not you ever have a slight feeling of guilt?"

Mrs. Lovett sighed. "No, as long as you had what you wanted, nothing else had much importance to me," she answered truthfully. _Nothing but you…_

Mr. Todd stared at her accusingly, almost sickened that the woman had no remorse when it came to nearly subjecting an innocent child to murder. The very thought of slaughtering men in the very house in which his daughter resided, absolutely appalled him. "Well, I cannot. There should be nothing wrong with our business being that of a reasonable, humane one."

Resentment filled the woman as she thought of the young blonde girl. One female had the power to change a killer into a righteous man. _Why could not she do the same? Why was he prone to listening to his precious daughter, but not to her? She had protected him, supported him, loved him…_

"You are only doing this for Johanna. You only want to please her because she looks a hell of a lot like your filthy Lucy!" From the moment the words had escaped her lips, Mrs. Lovett felt an ultimate terror grip her soul.

The man advanced upon her, outraged at her accusation. "How dare you call Lucy that? You are simply stung with jealousy because you know that I…will…never…love…you!!" He shouted the last few words with emphasis, each stabbing the baker in her heart. Hate soon blossomed from the wounds, entwining her in a web of self pity and vengeance.

Mrs. Lovett slipped past him and walked towards the barber's shop. Each step had a severe purpose; each breath was quickened with anticipation towards her next move. True, she might regret it later, but none of the consequences seemed to matter as the woman climbed the stairs and opened the shop's door, Sweeney still in the parlor, seething as he clutched the back of a chair for some sort stress relief.

Johanna had been sitting on the floor; her finger's brushing the stitches that adorned her upper body that were located underneath her dress. The sewing protruded out of the fabric in an odd way.

Mrs. Lovett had stormed in, her face holding false friendship. "Dear, why don't you come downstairs with me? There is something I would like to show you."

The girl beamed. "Of course, Mrs. Lovett, but where is my father?"

Mrs. Lovett roughly grabbed her wrist and lifted the girl off of the floor, still holding the stiff smile on her face. "You'll see him in no less than a moment. Now, come with me. You're going to love this!"

The woman then walked the girl over to the barber's chair and pointed to the pedal on the floor. "When your dear father shaved his customers, he was very angry about what Turpin had done to you and your lovely mother, you see. So out of revenge, he would slit the poor men's throat and send them sliding down to an even more painful death, due to his war on civilization. Do you not believe me? Well then, observe, my dear!"

Mrs. Lovett pushed the pedal with her foot, chuckling as the trap door opened and the chair tilted back. "Your father was quite the mechanic! Oh, dear Johanna, don't look so frightened, there is so much more to see!"

Johanna shook her head. "I refuse to believe any of this."

"Come with me and I assure you, the truth will be obvious. You have spent most of your days being lied to, why must the ill treatment continue? Come."

The woman blindly stumbled down the stairs, followed by a concerned Johanna. "Mrs. Lovett, please, you are not well!" The girl feared for the lady's state of mind as she ran after the red female, who had entered her shop and opened a door that led to a dark set of stairs that dug into the ground. The bake house. The baker pointed down to the iron door. "The truth lies right in front of you, my dear. The sooner you know the better!"

The teenager sent the landlady a frightened look. "What is to be revealed in the bake house?"

Mr. Lovett smiled. "I shall show you." The bake house door creaked, startling Sweeney Todd out of his fit of silent anger. _What the hell was the woman doing in the bake house? There were no customers, shop was closed._

With blind determination, the woman led the girl into the baking area and pointed to an area of flesh worn bones. "Look, my dear! Your loving father's customers!" Johanna shrieked and retreated to the nearest corner of the repulsive room. "And this is also the area where we burnt your old guardian. Yes, he burned him. Him and countless others! Guess who's fault this all is, Johanna? Guess!"

Mr. Todd noticed the open door way to the bake house, jumping upon hearing Johanna's screams. He ran down the stairs, swearing as he tripped over his feet in his rush. He pushed the door open, for it had closed after the two girls.

Johanna was hyperventilating in the corner of the room, shielding her eyes as Mrs. Lovett continued to shout at her. "This is not your poor father's fault, no. He did nothing wrong! It is your fault! You and your stupid mother! Yes, you were the motivation for this whole conspiracy!"

Sweeney rushed forward and shoved Mrs. Lovett with such a force, she flew onto the floor. Johanna sobbed and made a dash for the door. Sweeney, seeing this, grabbed Johanna from behind her waist and restraint her, spewing apologies as she screamed for help. With a trembling arm she grasped at the arm that held her, prying his fingers away. "Stop, stop, stop, it hurts!" She yelped until he loosened his grip. With a cry she ran from him and rammed her body into the nearest wall, her back to it, and her eyes staring at him with condemnation.

"Killer!" she shouted at him, tears streaming down her face. "Both of you are! And I had the ignorance to believe you!"

Todd outstretched his arms. "I did it for you…your mother."

"You killed with our names pressed upon your lips! How could you, I thought that…for once…I actually had found a father for me to love…to cherish!"

He stood withdrew his open arms and stared as Johanna straightened her posture, yet her face still held torture that stabbed at his heart. He had hurt her. And he had tried not to…all he wanted was to start out a new man. He had yearned for change…Benjamin Barker let out a cry of despair. Salvation was in reach and now lost.

"Killer," Johanna said with growing strength.

"Killer."

She advanced towards him, limping, stumbling, and barely keeping her stature composed.

"Killer."

She now stood before him, no barriers, and the truth known and feared. Only, fear was not written on her face any longer. No, not fear.

To Mrs. Lovett's disdain, the girl was not fearful of the man before her any longer.

Love had never been so strong of an emotion on the young girl's face.


	12. Quick note

**Chapter 11: what the hell was that about???????????????????????????????????????**

**Alright everybody, in case chapter 11 was a bit confusing, I have an explanation for what happened in general. One of my dear readers had commented on a slight confusion, and I intend on explaining chapter 11 in a better way. Don't worry, I'm not going to delete the story or anything…this is too much fun. So here's what happened…**

**Mrs. Lovett was aggravated that Sweeney had kept shop closed just so he could tend to his daughter, for if his shop is closed…then Mrs. Lovett cannot be provided with human flesh. She gets into an argument with him, in which he tells her that he will never love her. In a jealous rage, Mrs. Lovett goes to Johanna and refers to her as a distraction. She then shows Johanna her father's barber chair tilt back and tells the girl that Sweeney kills his customers. Mrs. Lovett is still angry and takes Johanna into the bake house and shows the girl the dead bodies that her father killed. Johanna screams and Sweeney comes rushing down. He sees Mrs. Lovett with Johanna and hears Mrs. Lovett tell Johanna that her father is a murderer because of her. Johanna tries to escape, but her father quickly grabs her while muttering apologies. Then Johanna escapes his grasp and backs against a wall, horrified by the bodies and what Mrs. Lovett had said to her. The last thing that was written was how Mrs. Lovett is horrified to see Johanna look upon her father in love and not in fear. After all, she had just been informed that he was a murderer. **

**In the next chapter, you the reader will see what happens to Johanna and Sweeney's relationship now that she has found out that he was a murderer and what will happen to Mrs. Lovett because, obviously Sweeney is going to be pissed that she told his daughter of the killings. Sorry if there was any confusion and I hope to update as soon as I can. ..Possibly tonight or tomorrow so be on the lookout. I apologize once more…**

**All my love, **

**Lovebug. **


	13. Chapter 12

Johanna fell into her father's embrace with a pained sob, unable to contain her emotions any longer. Sweeney quickly held her fragile body. She placed her hands on his back, all the while crying, "Killer, killer, killer!"

Mrs. Lovett gazed at the scene before her, an odd sense of defeat replacing her previous rage. _What had she been trying to do? Was she so jealous of Johanna simply because her father loved his daughter more than her?_ Shame was the only thing that the baker felt now. Utter shame.

"Johanna," Todd soothed. "I promise there will be no more killings. I never will kill an innocent man again, you must understand, I was yearning for justice."

Johanna looked up at his face. "Justice or revenge?"

Sweeney paused. It was obvious to both her and her father, the man clearly wanted revenge. Though he did not say so, his eyes told her the answer. Johanna nodded in understanding, and silently placed her head back onto her father's chest.

"Dear, you mustn't tell anyone what you know." Johanna closed her eyes, dreading the very thought of her father killing innocent customers.

"I…I…" Johanna's eyes threatened the over flow of tears.

"Realize, Johanna that if you tell anyone, then the police will come and take me away from you. We will be parted for eternity if the truth shall be revealed."

This did not help the girl's gentle condition. "No!" she wailed. "Don't go! Don't leave me!!"

Sweeney clenched his jaw. "I will not leave you, so long as you never tell a soul about what you have been informed of."

The girl sunk her face into his shirt once more after a sullen, "I will never tell another soul, so long as you wish."

With a sigh, the barber lifted his daughter's chin and looked into her eyes. "I love you. I promised that no one would harm you. Not even me."

Mrs. Lovett stood from the bake house floor, the side of her body throbbing from where the barber had pushed her.

"Dear, I don't know what came over me," Mrs. Lovett began. "I am so sorry."

Both Johanna and Sweeney Todd turned their heads towards Mrs. Lovett. Sweeney's lip was curled in a snarl and Johanna's tears had turned to that of detestation. Mrs. Lovett averted their gaze, clearly upset due to the days past events.

Sweeney was the first to speak. "Mrs. Lovett, I don't know what in God's name possessed you to do half of the things you have done today, but know this. I am done with being a killer. Those days are through. Accept the fact or leave…I do not care which. But, if you even think of hurting my daughter simply because she has resemblance to my wife…"

Johanna gentled her father by placing her hand on his chest and giving him a small smile. "The only thing I wish is to get out of this bake house," she said with a choked laugh.

Sweeney Todd could not help but agree. "Alright, let's get you to sleep. You must have had enough of this day."

The woman stood and walked out before them, holding back tears. Johanna could not stop the feelings of pity that she felt towards the woman who had shown affection to her before this dreadful day.

Before Mrs. Lovett could leave Johanna's sight, the girl yelled. "Mrs. Lovett?" The baker turned to look at her. The teenager inhaled. "I should like to know where my mother's grave is."

Mrs. Lovett gave the girl an odd look. "You wish to know where your mother is buried."

Johanna nodded. "I want to see her."

Mrs. Lovett grasped at the fabric of her dress. She had not thought this part through. "I do not know."

"How could you not know?" Sweeney asked with new curiosity towards his daughter's question. "You claimed to have cared for her until death."

Panic consumed the woman as she was torn between telling the pair the truth about Lucy Barker. Should she do it? Should she reunite a broken family?

"They took her body away when she poisoned herself. She's probably buried in one of those mass graves. The ones filled with hundreds of other unfortunate buggers."

Johanna shuddered at the thought of a hundred dead bodies. The few in the bake house had been terrifying enough for her.

Sweeney placed his hand on his daughter's shoulder, with an 'it was worth a try' glance.

Toby had returned home with a meat package, startled by Mrs. Lovett's tears. "Mum, what's wrong. Has something happened?"

With a sad sigh, Mrs. Lovett took his hand. "No, but you will have to get meat more often."

"Is Johanna alright?"

Mrs. Lovett produced a frown. "She is fine."

Toby nodded to himself and left the room to have a glass of gin, much to Mrs. Lovett's displeasure.

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The time had come when Johanna's stitches were ready to be removed. Mr. Todd, fearing for his daughter's safety, had removed them himself. He had been extraordinarily careful; pleased that her wounds had healed the best that could be asked for.

Mrs. Lovett had spent more time alone, cherishing the small exchanges she had shared with Toby over the past few days. All the while, the woman remained jealous over the barber's attention to his daughter. Was love such a sin? Yet, the woman's morals were not completely lost. She knew, with a great sadness, that Sweeney Todd would never love her. Her adoration for him was for naught.

Of the many promises Sweeney had made to his daughter, the most exciting one for was about to be granted.

Her father had entered the shop where she sat, her smile causing peculiar warmth in his chest. "I believe it is time for my promise to be fulfilled," he said with a small grin.

Johanna looked at him cautiously. "What promise would that be, father?"

"Well, you seem to be better, and it is a rather nice day out…"

Johanna leapt to her feet in glee, "Can I go outside?"

Her father nodded his head, wallowing in the happiness that seemed to come from his child.

Johanna had remained hesitant in the doorway when her father had opened it, her face hidden by the shadows. The only time she had been in fresh air was at night, and she had been running from either a psychiatric ward or a group of gang members…

The barber stepped into the light first, extending his head to the girl who still remained in the dark. Hesitation was clear in the teen's movements as she placed her pale hand into his. Slowly, her foot extended into the light, followed by the rest of her body.

As her foot settled on the street, Johanna felt the confidence inside of her gradually building. Light shined on the girl as she, for the first time, indulged in the warmth the sun had bestowed upon her.

Sweeney Todd had never seen such a beautiful sight. It was not just the glorious way the girl's hair shined in the light, nor the way her skin glowed. It was how the girl smiled in pure joy. Benjamin Barker rejoiced as his daughter, his little Johanna, found her salvation.

All the while, she held onto her father's hand.

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**Aww Johanna and her daddy, so flipping adorable. So I hope my last chapter was not too confusing to you guys after my explanation. SO tell me what you think of this one by pressing that little button that says review. Love you guys! Updates will be hasty! Adios! **


	14. Chapter 13

***laughs* oh, you guys and your reviews. Especially you MidnaLovesLinktotheendoftime! I loved the little skit you had going on there! Ha! Keep it up! *Toby grins and takes a shot of whiskey* And everybody, remember that criticism can save me a whole hell of a lot of pissed off readers, so I thank you all! Here's SWEENEY!**

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Finally, Johanna had begun to realize what it meant to be whole. She smiled more often, yet she barely left the very sight of her father. Perhaps it was out of fear of his possible leave or out of devotion to her only family member, either way, the barber had no complaints.

Somehow, a particular thought continuously perturbed his mind. Johanna was finally happy, but that was only because she did not know her mother. No doubt, if the girl knew her dear mother only for her to be taken away from the living, then life would not be very joyful. Mr. Todd knew this feeling all too well. Lucy Barker had changed his life, and no matter how glad his daughter was, Sweeney could never fill the hole that Lucy's death had burned into his heart. If only that hole could be filled with the tranquility that Johanna so easily found.

Oddly enough, Mr. Todd had sensed ghosts when he came back to his home. Then, why was there no ghost for his beloved Lucy? Why had he not felt her death, but only a foreboding feeling that she was alive, but ultimately suffering? But, Mrs. Lovett continued with her assurances of Lucy's passing, her eyes for some strange reason, darting to and fro when she told of his wife's fate.

Johanna had been disturbed by the fact that there was no grave for her mother, leaving her only to whisper things to her mother as if she were next to her. On some nights, Johanna would gaze at the cloudy moon, whispering things to her mother, though she was sure that her magnificent mother was an angel. That was the girl's motivation. Her angel…the girl would sit and speak of the outdoors, her father. She would cry of her experiences as a child, only to be comforted by the deafening silence. Nevertheless, Johanna would continue her ritual. The night was where she felt somewhat close to Lucy.

The shops were opened once more. Johanna would stare in awe as she watched her father shave the men, his hands moving in graceful patterns across the faces of the customers. On one day, she was slightly nervous that her father might kill the man, for the night in the bake house still seemed to haunt her. Her father would look up from the man, smile slightly at his daughter, and wipe the cream of off of the shaven cheek.

Still disturbed by her recent behavior, Mrs. Lovett had hired Johanna's help around the shop in hopes of earning the girl's acceptance. Days were long, but Johanna was glad to be doing something productive now that she had a home and a use for her hands.

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Johanna let out a small cough as powder from the pie dough crept into her nose. Johanna then lifted a pitcher of ale and returned outside to the tables of eaters.

Mrs. Lovett spared the girl a cautioned glace before returning back to her tray of pies and bringing them out to the hungry customers, who did not seem to notice the change in ingredients in her pies. As long as she had a reputation, it would not matter.

After Todd had finished with one of the customers, he stepped back outside and gazed upon the crowd of people. Johanna had just finished pouring a kind looking man a glass of ale, when she saw her father outside. Their eyes met and she produced a small smile towards him, almost as if she were shy. Sweeney, never quite the one for full smiles, nodded his head towards her. The girl accepted the small gesture and returned to work, blushing when the men she served whistled at her.

Lucy stepped onto Fleet Street, unable to think of an exact location to which she was destined. People had been talking of Mrs. Lovett's meat pies, and she was starving…With a sigh, the beggar decided to walk by the shop and possibly catch a morsel of pie. Even if it would have to be out of the trash, it would be better than dying. Or would it?

With a laugh, a woman patted Johanna's shoulder after the girl had served her a pie. "Best damn pies in all of England," she cackled, causing Johanna to turn and hurriedly walk back to the booths, glancing every now and again behind her back.

Johanna then saw her. The beggar women was walking on the other side of the road, her head down but her eyes large with hunger as she stared at the people who gorged themselves with the delicacy. A sudden sorrow washed over Johanna. The poor woman was starving! Johanna picked up a meat pie and walked past the tables filled with people.

Sweeney gaped at his daughter as she gestured to the woman with her hand. The girl smiled at the woman and held out a pie to her. People froze and turned to stare at the confrontation. Mrs. Lovett had ceased in serving and stared at the exchange.

"Here you are, madam," Johanna offered. The woman looked upon the pie that the girl held out, uncertain.

"Are you giving this to me?" she asked quietly.

Johanna nodded her head, realization causing her to laugh. "You were the woman, who held me in the alley when those men tried to hurt me, aren't you?"

Lucy nodded her head, recognizing the girl the moment she had laid eyes upon her. "Are you feeling any better?"

Johanna bowed her head. "Much, thank you. Now, please take this pie."

The woman accepted with a grateful, "Thank you," and turned to leave.

"Wait!" Johanna yelled after her. "May I ask for your name so that I may see you again?"

The beggar stood, stunned that someone wished to call upon her as a friend. She cocked her head to one side, deliberating the fact if she should tell the girl her full name.

"My name is Johanna," Johanna said for guidance.

The woman bowed her head once more. "You are truly wonderful, Johanna. My name is Lucy."


	15. Chapter 14

"Your name is Lucy?" Johanna asked as her eyebrows rose.

The beggar nodded mutely in response, her head still facing the floor, unable to look at the devastatingly familiar girl.

"I had a mother named Lucy," Johanna muttered quietly. "I suppose her last name was Todd, since that is my father's name."

"Your father…was he the man who rescued you and did away with…"

"Yes. That would be him."

Lucy gave the girl a scrutinizing glance. _Why did this child look so much like her former self?_

"Thank you, miss. For the pie, I mean," Lucy mumbled. "Shall I ever see you again?"

A slender finger pointed towards the house in which Lucy's vivid memories had begun.

_Her old home. _

"I live there," Johanna directed before placing the upraised hand onto the older woman's shoulder. "Come whenever you wish. I assure you, we have plenty of pies," she added with a smile. "And thank you. I am very much in your debt."

Lucy could feel tears tickling her cheeks as the girl turned to walk away after a small wave behind her. The sweet child had shown affection towards her… as if she were somehow her _friend_.

The moment Johanna turned away; she felt a sickening premonition overcome her_. She knew this woman far more than she could say. _

The people who had been sitting now sat mouth agape. Johanna laughed to herself. How small minded people could be. How they recoiled from imperfection…

Soon conversation began to start, Mrs. Lovett returned to her serving, Toby to his as well, and Sweeney to his profession.

When both shops had closed, Johanna decided to visit her father and possibly discuss her ominous feelings of knowing the beggar woman. Johanna sighed as she approached her father's shop door, struggling against the chains of her fears. _Would he find her stupid? Would he grow angry for her bringing the subject of her mother up again?_

"Come in," came the gruff voice as soon as Johanna had knocked her hand on the door. The teen placed her hand on the doorknob and opened it, glaring at the aggravating sound of the bells.

"I did not realize it was you," her father explained after looking up from his razor, cleaning the foam from the lather off of its surface.

Yes, Johanna knew very well of the different attitude her father seemed to take around her. One moment he would pierce her with his suffering eyes, the next he would be his lack of conversation. If he did not know that Johanna was the one knocking on his door; the stiff, uncaring attitude would replace any hint of gentility Johanna had managed to bring to his personality. One thing was for certain. Besides her, he rarely sought refuge or even a simple greeting with others. It was just who he was. Johanna was not certain if it was the killings that had made him such a harsh man or the imprisonment. Well, either one could not have helped the other.

"I thought that I could help you around here, you know, sweep up the hair or something to that effect…" she suggested, hoping that her opportunity would come.

"There is no need. I can do it," her father denied.

"Please, father. Now that I have acquired such freedom, I really do wish to make some use of myself, whatever it may be."

He met her gaze and gestured with his eyes to the floor. "If it is your wish, you may sweep up the hair. There is a broom in the corner there…yes…you've got it."

The eager girl grabbed the broom and made her way to her father, who by now was standing over his table and gracefully stroking the white substance off of the metal.

As she swept the discarded hair, Johanna spoke up. "Father, do you recall the beggar woman who helped me in the alley during the night of my…my attack?"

He grimaced at the memory as if he were in pain. "Yes," he answered curtly.

Johanna looked at him and then back to the pile of hair. "Her-her name is…Lucy."

"I beg your pardon."

"Lucy. Her name-the beggar-she is Lucy."

Sweeney Todd gripped the razor tightly, and then placed it back in its case with extreme care. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I was simply thinking…"

"That this woman by some miraculous act of god is your mother?"

Johanna averted his burning gaze. "It was dim-witted, I know. It could not have been her, anyway. I told her my mother's name was Lucy Todd. If it really was her…I'm sure she would say something," Johanna blurted out.

With more powerful strokes, Johanna continued to brush the hair until it was in a demandingly neat pile.

"I understand that you have hopes for the chance that your mother is still…believe me, I hoped as well…but she is gone. Nothing can change that."

Johanna dropped the broom to the floor and placed her hands in her hands. "Why are you doing this? Why do you insist on crushing my hopes when it is the only thing that I thrive upon?" she demanded.

The barber decided not to answer the question and simply turned back to his razors, brushing his finger over the flat of the blade.

"You know, my name is not Sweeney Todd," he stated in a quiet tone.

"Then pray tell, what is your name?"

"It cannot be told. The last time the people around here heard this name, I was being dragged off onto a doomed ship with chains restraining me."

"I understand."

He removed his hand from the razors, but continued to face in her opposite direction. "My real name is Barker. Benjamin Barker." The name brought feeling, emotion, not only to the man but to his daughter as well.

As if nothing wrong had occurred, Johanna straightened a smile prominent on her face. "Benjamin Barker! Oh, the very name brings warmth!"

With swirling, pivoting steps, Johanna spun around the room, laughing. Sweeney turned towards her, as if she were possessed. Had anyone ever reacted in such a manner over a plain name?

Suddenly, Johanna came towards him and placed her hands on his shoulders. "To be brutally honest, the name Sweeney Todd was rather cold, don't you think?"

"I…er…suppose."

Almost subconsciously, Johanna laid her head on his shoulder and began to sway to a silent rhythm. Though the man was irked by his awkwardness around such movements of affection, he let her hold him and gazed towards the stars as she swayed in his arms.

A shooting star…

"You know," he began in a hushed voice. "I think you really taught our customers their first lesson in humanity when you gave the woman the pie."

Johanna looked towards the brilliant night sky, as well. "Not really. I believe that there is virtue in people. We as a unity just have to look hard enough to see it."

Sweeney shook his head, baffled at the forgiving soul that was nestled in his arms. "I really do believe that mother is alive, father. I really do."

He stared blandly at the stars. "I know."

No music played and still, the two swayed.

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***sniffles* Freaking poetic, if I do say so myself. Now I'm going to try to update as soon as possible. Busy, busy weak as usual…but vacation is coming and I intend on spoiling you guys. So do me a favor and review so that I may be motivated to give you guys some more of this good stuff. Parting is such sweet sorrow…aka this sucks! I'll try as soon as I can. Thank you! **


	16. Chapter 15

It not for the comforting words of Toby, Mrs. Lovett was positive that she would have undoubtedly lost her mind long ago. Constantly, the woman gazed at Johanna, the girl resembled Lucy Barker to a point where it nearly brought the baker physical pain by simply looking at her. The appearance…the personality…it all tortured the woman to no end. Were both father and daughter enjoying her terrible plight? Did they find some cruel humor in watching her suffer? Ha, if there was even the slightest chance that she would tell them where Lucy Barker really was, it was long gone.

How time seemed to freeze when Johanna spoke to the beggar! Oh, the first day of their acquaintanceship was by far, the most distressing day that she had been made to endure in an extraordinarily long time. It was quite clear that both the beggar and the child had a faint idea that they knew one and other, yet they never really let on.

Mr. Todd barely uttered a word to his accomplice since the night in which she showed Johanna her father's murders. Purposely, he ignored her, avoiding eye contact as well as conversation. The man did not even stay in the same room as her for too long a period of time! Did he not see it? Was he too blind to realize that she, Eleanor Lovett, absolutely adored him? She pondered upon all of the years devoted to her secret obsession with the barber…all of the praying she had done when he was exported, and now…_this. _

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On the barber's day off, Johanna began to implore a walk with her father.

"I beg off you, a walk…a run…something!" she moaned as he sat in his chair and continued to stare into space, in deep thought over something that remained unbeknown to Johanna. The girl sighed and placed her hands on the chair's armrests, leaning in towards him. "Would you be content with Hyde Park, papa?" she asked with a small grin.

Sweeney involuntarily winced at the memories of his last visit to the park. "The last time I had been to that place," he began, "was when I was forced by Mrs. Lovett. All the while, she ranted on about the sea…marriage…butter…"

"She ranted about butter, father?"

"I really was not quite listening, but her eyelids…something about butter…never mind; I shall take you to Hyde Park."

Johanna gave him an odd glance before slowly walking towards the door. "I never really took into consideration on the fact that Mrs. Lovett can really stir up an interesting conversation."

The streets were crowded, as they tended to be. Stares were admiringly directed towards the blonde child while others thoroughly studied the man with whom she walked. They were a curious pair.

While the two sauntered, Johanna observed the fellow strollers. One couple, though, caught her deep interest. A young girl walked arm in arm with an older gentleman. Her green eyes laughed as she beamed at the man's face. They continued to walk by, her brunette hair blowing in the breeze as he brushed a few pieces of gray hair from his face. With stunning realization, Johanna concluded that the couple must have been none other than father and daughter.

Johanna looked towards her own father's face and back to the other's. With a great feeling of self consciousness, Johanna linked her arm through Sweeney Todd's as she continued her observations. Todd wildly darted his gaze from their now locked arms towards the street ahead.

They then turned the corner and began to walk down the street that would lead them to the park after a few turns. The street where the barber's world had increasingly fell apart. They began to walk on the street where the grand Judge Turpin's house stood, lions engraved into the stone work.

Sweeney felt his daughter's arm stiffen and her gaze flutter around her, as if she felt that her tormenting guardian would appear out of thin air. He placed a comforting hand on her arm and continued to lead her away until she stopped walking.

Her face suddenly held a harsh coldness. "I want to go inside my old house."

"No, you cannot…"

"I will," she said with a determination. To prove her decision, she raised her chin and took on a fuller height. "I wish to say goodbye to the staff and whatnot. Perhaps release my birds…"

Release my birds….

The man now understood. His daughter wished to free the birds, thus giving herself a possible new start…a clean slate. The birds were a representation for her. Perhaps, if they were freed, then she would feel so too. Releasing her caged birds would help her move on, and he would allow it.

"Very well, but if anyone asks, remember that I am not in any shape or form, related to you."

"Yes, you were a friend of my guardian's," she said, forming the lie in her head before anyone could ask.

He nodded his head in approval and stepped up to the door of the mansion, already loathing the stoned lion's appearance.

His Lucy had walked into the Lion's den, and she did not leave unscathed.

The door creaked open, revealing a room that looked as if it had one particular use. Parties. They walked past the small tables filled with candles, surrounded by luxurious red chairs. The room was decorated with pictures of landscapes as well as candle holders, which decorated the walls.

"I always considered it to be a bit overdone," Johanna muttered as she walked past all of the finery, ignoring it as if it were rubbish.

Mr. Todd tried to follow suit, yet the overpowering feeling of grief had diminished his advances. This was where his beloved had been claimed. Claimed by a man who was not in any interest for whom she was or what she wished…who simply loved her for her beauty. With a sigh, he stared at the chairs, imagining his wife, weary and drugged, gazing pleadingly at a menace.

In a great rush of energy, he bolted from the room and came to a large hallway, rooms on either side. "Those stairs, right there…they lead to the bedrooms," Johanna informed him as they made their way across the wooden floor. A large stairway lay ahead.

With curiosity, Mr. Todd stared into the rooms on either side of him. With a start, Sweeney noticed the vulgarity of the wallpaper in each room. In a room that appeared to be a sitting room, women were plastered to the walls in frozen position, bending in exotic patterns.

Johanna, noticing the direction in which his attention was directed, stated, "That is where he would take me in order to teach me of a woman and her righteous desires involving a man." She looked away. "It has about as much meaning for me now as it had for me then."

Just as the two approached the end of the hallway and walked towards the stairs, a voice came from behind them.

"Are you two in your right state of mind barging into the honorable Judge Turpin's house? Out, before…dear, lord…Johanna, is that you?"

Johanna whirled around to face the owner of the voice, disbelief her prominent feature after a brief moment of realization.

"Oh, Johanna, we have missed you."

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**OOOOOhhhh who is the mystery speaker??? Ha, you'll know soon enough! Isn't that Sweeney silly for walking into the house of his arch enemy? Ah, he is so much fun to write about. Now, I must thank you all for your reviews…unfortunately, I am getting greedy. Every day, I want more and more of your comments! Oh boy…anyway…I will be writing as much as I possibly can. Yadyadayada and blahblahblah…everybody review please…enjoy the story…have fun! *scratches head* yea I should go to sleep….it's like an insane time to be posting this…but hell, if I want to, I frigging will! *passes out* **


	17. Chapter 16

Johanna stood in awe. "Mildred?"

The woman advanced towards the girl, her face holding questions. "Where have you been? First, your guardian takes his leave to some area unknown…and then you just disappear? You nearly gave me a stroke, girl!" Mildred stopped before Mr. Todd. "And who in god's good name is this man?"

Mildred had a rough appearance to her. Her clothes were that of a servants and her back was slightly arched from the bowing and cleaning she had to perform when the judge had lived. The woman did not possess any valuables except the necklace that was tucked into her shirt that served as both a small luxury and a reminder of her status. Frown wrinkles had formed onto her face and into her red hair line. Her hair took on a sort of dark copper sheen, with dark streaks of red that billowed down to her shoulders. Despite of her poor appearance, the woman had a strong will to her, and there she stood, hands on hips in from of the demon barber.

"Well, I believe I asked you a question, sir."

Johanna grasped onto her father's sleeve and formed a false smile on her lips. "Oh, he was a friend of lord Turpin's, my good lady. Turpin told me that if anything should happen to him, pray it has not, and then I should reside with the good hearted, Mr. Todd. He is a barber, you see, and upon meeting him, my dear father knew that this man would take good care of me. And he has, Mildred. I suppose I shall be staying with Mr. Todd until my dear father returns, pray no ill fortune has befallen him."

Sweeney blinked in surprise at his daughter's quick wit. How had she known to lie like this? Had she been known to deceive just to survive in this hell?

Mildred took in what the child had said, her mind holding doubt. "I suppose if it is our good Turpin's wish, then…I must be inclined to let you stay with this man." Mildred looked the man up and down, her voice compelling and sturdy. "Now, I'll have you know that I took care of this youngling since she was a baby. You have regular financial income, I should hope?"

Todd swallowed and cleared his throat. "Of course," he informed her as he thrust his hands into the pockets of his trousers. "She will never be in need as long as she is with me."

Mildred continued to study him, cocking her head to one side while furrowing her brow. "Very well then…why have you come back then?"

"I wished to say my farewells," Johanna declared in a soft voice.

"Alright then, it was lovely to have been a service to you. Please, shut the door when you have left."

The girl winced at the woman's lack of sincerity. "Mildred?"

"What is it, girl?"

"Who shall own this house?" She quickly added, "In the very unfortunate case of my dear father's parting?"

The woman shifted her gaze to the surrounding walls and their disturbing pictures. "I do not have the faintest idea. We shall take care of the house until someone comes by. I assure you; such a nice house will have many takers."

There was a pause. "Please send my regards to the rest of the staff." Johanna then turned on a heel and strutted to the staircase, avoiding Mildred's piercing stare. "Come, Mr. Todd. I wish to leave this place soon," Johanna added as she ascended the stairs, lifting her dress so she would not trip.

Sweeney Todd returned the servant woman's stares, boldly looking her right into her freckled face. "Thank you, Mildred," he said thickly, sarcasm bobbing his words. Honestly, the woman could have been a tad bit more compassionate.

He too, turned and walked up the stairs, frowning in distaste at the obscene pictures. _The judge truly must have been a very lonely man_, thought Sweeney as he walked down the hall way.

A door was located at the end of yet another hallway. This one had a picture oddly placed. Instead of having the picture located in a centered area, it was hung to the side. The barber really had no particular care for décor, but the location on the frame seemed absurd.

Carefully, Sweeney stepped in front of Johanna as she reached to open the door. "Why is this picture here?" he asked himself, though Johanna concluded it was directed towards her.

"I'm not quite sure. Odd place for a picture, though. Shall we see my room?"

The barber reached towards the picture. "In one moment, I just…" He pulled the picture down and gazed in nausea at the hole in the wall. A fool could have known that the hole had one specific use…

The girl beside him stepped towards the hole and peered in. "Oh," she said as she gazed through the tiny hole an into her room. "I do wonder when he managed to do this. And it stares right to my sitting spot." She pulled away and shook her head.

Sweeney shifted his eyes, disturbed as Johanna blushed in embarrassment. "I feel completely humiliated to now know that he had a looking hole that gazed into _my_ room," she began.

Unable to find a comforting word, her father managed to pat her arm and open the door. Johanna's room was bland; the only source of light was a small window to the right of where he stood. A small cage hung over the area. Every step that he took made the floor shudder beneath him, Johanna's eyes widening with every step.

As she approached the bed, her face began to flush and she looked away. "Maybe we should not have come," she gushed as she backed away from the bed, seeing scenes that were not really in front of her. "God, please," she moaned.

"Johanna, we must leave. You are obviously not…"

Johanna waved her hand, desperately trying to clear her mind. "No. If I am to leave this place whole, then I must…say…goodbye. I have to…or else I will always think…I will always be here," Johanna spoke brokenly with outstretched arms.

Though she stumbled, the blonde made her way to the cage. She stared into it, transfixed. She had lost the ability to breathe, as well as her will to think. With a trembling hand, Johanna placed a finger on the bars, stroking the cold metal.

"Johanna," her father interrupted her terror filled mind with his voice. "We must go, now."

He ignored the way the floor moaned, as if he were ignoring a guards warning. With unintentional force, he grabbed her arm. Her old home had terrified her for fifteen years and now he had the ignorance to bring her back to her hell once more? "This is not right."

She evaded his grip and pointed into the cage, near hysterics. "They're dead!" she cried. "Those poor birds have been killed and now they are dead!" She began to stomp around the room, clearly out of her right state of mind. "How could he? Every time he held me, he promised he loved me. I was his and now he has killed me! I am dead! Finished!"

Sweeney rushed towards her, only to be pushed back by the girl who had used unexpected force. "You are alive with me, Johanna. Please, try to calm yourself."

Ignoring him, the girl began to rampage her room, throwing anything in sight. Surely, if this continued, she would cause herself injury. Once again, the man rushed towards her, and held her in his arms. "It's over. You are here with me. He will never…hurt…you…again."

With a pathetic struggle, her fists began to beat against his chest. With each blow, she became weaker and fatigued. In one last effort to inflict her blind rage, she let out any energy she had managed to keep within herself and used it to pummel her lean hands against his hollow torso. "I never loved him! I swore I did, but I did not! I could not bear look at myself in the mirror for weeks after he would do those…those…_things_ to me. I was ashamed, but no longer will I lie!"

With a last thrust of energy she beat her fist against his chest. "I hate Judge Turpin, I hate him, I hate him," she lost the ability to stand and her knees gave way with a final, "I hate him!"

Sobs filled the room as Todd held the girl who had now sunk to the floor. She poured all of the sadness, bitterness, and hate she had ever felt with her tears. All of the wasted years, the loss, were now replaced by the last part of her salvation. The deep hole within her young heart that hate and loss had drilled was now filled with the love that her father had given her. Or at least, it was almost filled. There was always one person who could make her completely whole. But, she had learned throughout her life that she most definitely could not always get what she wanted.

Sweeney held his daughter, cursing the moment he allowed her to enter the very house. "It's alright. You are safe," he whispered in her ear. The girl's rail thin arms squeezed his neck. "I am sorry I took you here."

"No," she gasped. "I am most glad that you did. I feel…oh, father! Did I hurt you?"

Sweeney glanced down at the spot where she had placed the blows upon his chest. "No," he assured her. Still, guilt was written all over her wet face.

The door in which they had closed behind them, suddenly opened slowly to reveal Mildred.

"What are you doing to her?"

Sweeney grit his teeth. "The door was closed for a reason."

Mildred sighed and made her way over to Johanna. "It sounded like you were killing her, "she said as she stroked the girl's hair. "So thin...Dear me, girl, have you been eating? It's a wonder how you made it by all of these years."

The woman then looked up, a mysterious smile forming on her pale lips. "It is quite a wonder you made it through all of these years, too, Mr. Barker."

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**Oh snap! Poor Johanna went ape shi* on her daddy. Oh dear, what is this story coming to? Muahhaha….Now, leave a review and tell me what you think, like, hate, adore…yeah…that stuff. Yes, if you hate it, go on and tell me. I can handle it! Big girls don't cry! *Shudders at the pitiful impression of Fergie* Aright, I shall try to update before the day is out! I am on a mission, damn it! Ok, love to all and as Jerry Springer would say, "Be good to each other, and yourselves."**


	18. Chapter 17

Johanna froze and gazed up into her father's face, not sure of what to say. He was not quite sure either.

Mildred let out a chuckle. "It was not that hard to tell. I did not think that our dear Turpin would simply let his ward stay with a complete stranger. He does not trust only because he cannot be trusted."

A warm silence filled the air. "How did you know?" Johanna asked.

Mildred paused for a moment, thoughtfully. "There is hardly a man in London without Mr. Todd's name pressed upon their lips. You, my good man, are renowned for your impeccable shaves. Now, when you told me his name…I knew where your shop was, you see. Knowing that and the fact that you are a complete stranger who decides to adopt a girl with no connections to her at all, well, it was almost obvious. For me…at least, I suppose, it was partial luck and knowledge, Mr. Barker."

The woman pressed her lips into a thin line. "I also know what he did to your wife."

Sweeney looked up at her and then back to his daughter. "I too, know," he said bluntly.

"Please excuse my surmising," she muttered as she stood straight and strutted over to the door.

"Wait," Johanna called as she gained her legging and rushed towards her. With small steps, Johanna stepped towards the maid. "You will not tell about…us…_him being…?"_

The woman stood in the open doorway, and turned towards the pair. "Tell about what? Good night," the woman replied openly as she gave a wink and closed the door behind her.

With a small giggle, Johanna grabbed her father's hand and made an effort to hoist him up, though he stood on his own. "She was my favorite maid, and now I am sure you know why."

Sweeney Todd let out a small groan. His daughter's changes in moods were starting to tire him. Yes, she seemed to have found herself assurance now that she had abandoned her ties to her past life, but the constant worry of his daughter losing herself once more emotionally drained the man.

It was not until late afternoon that the father and daughter had finally arrived home. The girl felt so renewed, upon arriving home, she walked towards Mrs. Lovett. The woman was sitting down and staring at her hands when Johanna walked up to her and wrapped her arms around the woman's shoulders. Mrs. Lovett had sat, dumbstruck. Johanna had then pulled away and went to find Toby, her very companion on the days where her father was in one of his _moods. _

Johanna had walked outside to the benches where Toby was standing, looking at the sky. "What are you doing, Toby?" Johanna asked as she stood next to him.

Toby continued to study the forming clouds, grimacing. "You ever take time to realize how lucky you are to have a caring father?" Toby wondered.

Johanna grasped his hand. "Yes, and I am very thankful."

Toby blushed as he looked down at their entwined hands. "You…you are very nice to me…Johanna…er…thank you, miss," Toby stuttered.

The two continued to stare at the sky, gray bathing their young faces. Johanna suddenly became overwhelmed with a feeling of bereavement. The sudden thought of Anthony brought tears down the girl's face, her memory of him more painful than any physical injury she had ever required.

Johanna let go of Toby's hand the moment she saw Lucy on the other side of the street. "How long have you been over there, Lucy?" Johanna called over to the ragged woman.

"Not very long…Oh, be careful while crossing the road, Johanna," Lucy instructed as the girl began to walk towards her. Toby, seeing the girl now with another of her friends, entered the house.

Bounding across the street, Johanna rushed forward until she was face to face with the beggar. "How are you?" Johanna asked the woman.

"I am fine, dear," Lucy replied softly.

"Would you like a pie?"

"No, no. I suppose I just wanted to speak with you. Would you like to walk?"

Johanna stopped and thought for a moment. "I cannot go far. My father…"

"I shan't take you off this very street, Johanna."

"Alright then, so how are you feeling?"

There came no reply. Johanna sent her a puzzled look. With a harsh sigh, Lucy began. "I just don't understand this anymore! Ever since I have seen you, I have felt a connection, as if I know you. I fear I have lost my mind just when I appeared to have gained my sanity back! You…your father…I had seen him in his barber shop before…he looks like my…" Lucy wrung her hands. "I do not think I can stand these visits anymore, it is just too much for me."

With a sad groan, Johanna placed a hand on the woman's arm. "Please do not leave me. You are one of the very few friends I have been blessed to have."

Lucy shrugged the girl's arm off. "No, I cannot! My husband…my Benjamin," Lucy moaned.

"Benjamin?" Johanna asked.

Lucy could not contain herself. "Yes! My husband, Benjamin. Oh, you sweet girl, I am sorry, I must take my leave."

Johanna's mind whirled. "Your name is Lucy…your husband is Benjamin," Johanna stammered. "Lucy, what happened to Benjamin?"

Lucy let out a shuddering sob. "I do not know."

The two had reached the end of the street, causing Johanna to stop in mid step. Lucy continued to walk forward, tears forming in her eyes. Johanna yelled the woman's name, begging her to stop. "Please! Lucy! What is your last name? Tell me, oh please!"

Suddenly the woman stopped and turned to stare at the girl who had begun to shake. _It couldn't be… _

"My full name…is Lucy. Lucy Barker. I must go now."

Johanna let out a shrill scream. "God, wait!"

Lucy ran, unable to hide her tears, ignoring the people who stared at her in confusion.

Unsure of what to do, Johanna bit back the threatening tears and ran as fast as she possibly could handle, pushing past people and tripping over the cobblestones until she burst thought the door to Mrs. Lovett's pie shop. "Father!" she shrieked.

Sweeney lunged towards the door of his shop and raced down the stairs and into the shop where he had heard the cry. "What is it? What has happened?" he demanded as he held her arms. Mrs. Lovett and Toby advanced forward, bewildered.

"The woman, Lucy…her…name," Johanna gasped. "It's her, my mother!"

Sweeney shook his head. "Your mother is dead! Nothing can change that. I am sorry. Now, stop this mindless ranting!"

The girl grabbed a fistful of his shirt. The girl bawled, while clinging to him, "SHE SAID HER NAME WAS LUCY _BARKER_!!"

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**Oh, guys I have known cruelty. Killing, torture, and pillage is a form of cruelty…but I now realize that this cliffhanger is one of the cruelest things ever to be done to a human being. Please, do not crucify me, my dear readers. Get ready for the next chapter where the ultimate showdown takes place. Until then…there will be nothing but to wait. And believe me, waiting sucks ass so the next chapter should be up in a descent amount of time. **


	19. Chapter 18

"SHE SAID HER NAME WAS LUCY _BARKER_!"

The moment these words passed through Johanna's lips, denial replaced any anger the barber had felt. Johanna still clung to his shirt, her eyes wide and pleading while she breathed in whimpering sobs. She silently begged him, entreated him to rescue the woman who had claimed to be Lucy Barker.

It could not have been possible. Lucy had killed herself.

Mrs. Lovett stared in hidden horror, forming a lie or an explanation as rapidly as her mind possibly could. What to say? They could not meet! With a shudder at the very thought, the baker opened her mouth. "I am sure that this was a terrible coincidence, dear. You know of your mother's true fate."

Angrily, the girl pulled away from her father and stepped towards the woman. In a weak rage, Johanna howled, "Her husband, she said, was Benjamin." Johanna then pointed towards Sweeney Todd, her hand lifted in a dangerous tremor. "_He_ is Benjamin Barker! You mean to tell me that this is a coincidence?" In a whirl of blonde hair, the girl was clutching the lapel of her father's jacket. "Oh, please. Go after her…it is her…"

He shook his head, only frustrating Johanna even more. "You said that you thought she was still alive!"

"No, that was you, Johanna. Still is, actually."

The girl placed her hands on each side of Sweeney Todd's face, staring him right into his very eyes. "Please, believe me, father." The tone of her voice broke into a distressed whisper. "I know it's her. It is my mother."

He removed her hands from his face, and walked over to the pie shop window, only he did not glace at the people who walked by. Instead, he imagined Lucy's smiling face, innocence bursting from her soft brown eyes. Why, now, was the memory so strong? Todd let out a breath of panic as he place his arm of the glass above his head.

Lucy's face was always a horrible blur! Why was it now a clear vision as if she were right in front of him?

"Mrs. Lovett," he began in a voice of alarm. "She is dead. You told me…she is dead…" His statement was more of a question.

In a moment, Johanna comprehended her worst fear. Accusingly, the girl turned to the woman. "You knew she lived. All of this time…you lied. You love my father, I know it! I have seen you looking at him, your looks so amorous! You knew all along." Johanna grasped a near table for support. "You hated my mother because she had one thing that you wanted all along…Benjamin Barker."

Sweeney slowly turned towards the group, his eyes closed, sudden understanding clouding his features. It all actually made sense. Sickening sense…

Mrs. Lovett backed away from the condemning glances from everyone in the room. Even Toby looked at her in a disbelieving matter, his young eyes searching her face for the truth.

Sobbing, Mrs. Lovett ran a hand over her face in an attempt to calm herself. "I never lied. I told you she poisoned herself."

Mr. Todd nodded to himself. "You lied to me, didn't you?" His words held betrayal, as if he had trusted her like she was a friend. His reliance on her had been based on companionship…she had been too busy trying to keep him to realize the fact that he looked upon her as something more than an accomplice. Sweeney Todd had trusted her, thus proving the fact that she had shattered any hopes of a life with the man that she had ever dreamed of. Now, he knew of her lies. Johanna had made sure of it. Why should she continue to try and deceive him when she had already lost him?

"Yes, I lied to you."

He moved towards her in a flash of movement and pinned her against a wall, his large hand around her neck. The movement surprised everyone in the movement besides the trapped baker. His violent act was expected.

Johanna stepped backwards, astonished and bewildered at her father's act of sudden aggression. Yet, Toby showed a more protective side. With a yell, the boy ran forward and wrapped his arms around the man's stomach, grunting as he tried to pull the man away from Mrs. Lovett. Sweeney shrugged Toby off, ignoring the boy's pitiful efforts to protect his mother. The barber's daughter stepped forward and hugged Toby to her chest, begging him to stop. It was until the boy collapsed against Johanna's chest did the boy stop his attack.

"Where…is…my...wife?" he asked in a furious rage as he gnashed his teeth together. "What has happened to her?"

With an overcoming feeling of loss, Mrs. Lovett gave in to the fate that she so helplessly had tried to avoid. "She did poison herself; I just never said that she died."

The grip on her neck loosened for nearly a moment before tightening once more.

"Your Lucy survived the arsenic. She lost her memory as well as her sanity. I suppose seeing your daughter," the baker sent the stricken girl a glance, "helped her gain some of her memory. She is now a beggar who has been roaming London…and conversing with your Johanna."

In a second, the pressure around her neck was released. Sweeney Todd bounded out the door as if he were running for his life. Mrs. Lovett noted the love he felt for his wife, and suddenly, she felt ashamed of her lies.

Outside, people were shoved aside as Todd ran. The outside world became a haze as Sweeney darted through the streets, shouting the name of his lost lover. "Please", he begged." Please come back to me, Lucy!"

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Lucy continued to run, pain and loss enveloping her in their strangling cocoon. Sobs were no longer rare, they were natural…natural as breathing…natural as mourning. Life had no meaning. Living was a task that sent the worst of obstacles in one's way, as an amusement to 'God.' That is, if God could exist. Was it possible that there was a God? Death and sickness; plight and sorrow; could a being such as God be so worshiped if he was heartless enough to let the worst in the world simply happen?

"Lady, watch it!" a boy commanded as Lucy tripped over a cobbled stone on the walkway. A sob mixed with a cry of anguish escaped the back of her throat as she dragged herself to her feet. The rough stone ripped the skin from her hands and legs, yet she struggled to her feet and continued her meaningless running.

Wherever she was going, it no longer mattered. Benjamin was dead; her daughter was gone. She had no one left in this world. Johanna had been the only one to show her a fragment of kindness in the unforgiving world, her light serving as a small guide. Now, she no longer had a desire to follow that light. Life had no meaning when the ones that you loved and cherished had been ripped away from you.

What mattered now? Benjamin was dead. If she closed her eyes, she could almost feel his warm touch and see his smiling eyes. And then she would be forced to face the real world.

Uncaring, Lucy knelt to the floor and wrapped her small arms around her body. Tears stung the cuts on her face, gently tickling her hands as the fell. Strollers barely moved around her, some sending kicks to her figure for being a barrier of the sidewalk.

"LUCY!!"

The woman ceased her running and frantically looked around her for the person who called her name. No, she thought. It is only your mind. Do the whole world a glorious favor and die. Just die!

"LUCY!!"

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The man let out a groan, his voice hoarse from screaming. People were now sending him stares, only to be ignored by the determined barber. Sharp turns were made in his attempt to find his wife, as darted the crowds and searched every face for the woman who Johanna had made acquaintances with. What did she look like?

"Damn it!" he yelled to himself. What the hell did his wife look like now? He could only remember the past…

"Lucy!" he tried again, his hope draining with every despairing second.

It was then Sweeney noticed a woman curled into a ball on the sidewalk, softly crying to herself. Her face was slightly raised so that her face was visible. Something about the woman's face…her jaw perhaps…

The man advanced towards the figure, hesitant in every move that he made. The heartbreaking sight of the woman brought tears to his eyes, stinging in an uncomfortable matter. How the familiarity of the woman tugged at his very heart as he stepped towards the ragged heap.

Upon seeing a pair of black boots in front of her, Lucy looked up at the man who stood over her.

With a painful pang, all of her features registered into Mr. Todd's mind.

He had found her.

"Lucy?"


	20. Chapter 19

Lucy scrutinized the man who had just uttered her very name. How did he know her? His features, the way he looked at her…The familiarity of his features. Who was this man?

Still standing, the strange man studied her, his face holding doubt. "Lucy," he began in a broken whisper. "It's me. It's …" he paused, obviously in great conflict over the next word. "Benjamin," he muttered in a lower tone.

Benjamin…Lucy stared at the man's face, her expression blank as she suddenly felt the very last piece of her memory restored into her mind. In one breath taking moment, she remembered…She had a daughter whose name was Johanna. The beautiful happy baby girl…her body was brutally claimed by Judge Turpin after her husband was wrongfully sent to Australia…and she had purchased arsenic for one purpose…to kill herself. All of these overwhelming memories brought the remnant of her sanity because a man simply uttered her lost lover's name. Yet, how did he know her? Could it be…?

"Benjamin," she mouthed. The way her eyes pleaded with him! I beg you, she silently screamed. Please…please be him…my husband. Yet, she knew in her saddened heart that life could only be so kind.

Unable to stand on his legs, Sweeney fell to his knees, a pained expression darkening his already black eyes. "Lucy," he gasped, suddenly reaching his arms towards her, but failing to muster the courage needed to physically touch her.

It was then that reality came towards the woman like a burst of sunshine after being concealed in the darkness for too long a time. Her husband…back from the dead. She too, reached her hands towards him, only she did not make any contact, for her disbelief was too strong. "Please," she whimpered. "Do not put yourself in front of me when I know I cannot truly have you…when I know that this cannot be real."

"Oh, Lucy," he moaned with tears, for once after so many years, freely falling down his ghastly face. Gently, he placed his gloved hand on Lucy's face, his tears becoming more rapid as she leaned into the touch of his hand with her eyes closed.

Sweeney Todd could not breathe nor could he think. He lovingly looked past the filth, the grime of his lost wife and stared into her eyes. They were a devastatingly cold blue now, most likely from the arsenic…

"Are…is this real?" Lucy faltered as she felt his face with her hand, shivering though his skin was warm. "If I am dreaming…then I pray to never wake again."

"No…I am here," he replied as he savored her touch.

"I-I…you cannot be…" her face scrunched together, tears falling down her features as well. How he had changed! His eyes were so much older than when she had remembered. He was pale, his hair color altered…the results of stress could be overwhelming.

"It is me, my love," he paused for a moment. "Don't you remember? I-I proposed to you when you were only eighteen. You do remember…us…don't you?"

Yes, the memories were distant, but they were most certainly there. "I remember." She stroked his cheek with the pad of her thumb. "Benjamin," Lucy relished the very feel of his name on her tongue, the sound sweeter than anything she had felt in years. Soft sobs flowed through her petite frame. "I thought you were dead."

Both of them continued to weep, and with a shuddering sigh, Sweeney pulled his wife into his chest and buried his face into her dirtied hair. Lucy recoiled slightly from his touch, nervous because of the way he held her while she looked so horribly _revolting_. And yet, he tightened his arms around her. Her ears pressed against his throat so she could hear his muffled sobs.

In an attempt to contain himself, he stood while keeping his hold around Lucy, bringing her up with him. Now, the world around the both of them was no longer in existence…Only the world of the rare were together again, just when they thought that they were parted forever.

For some time, they merely stood and looked intently into each other's faces, their arms never leaving the other. Sweeney grasped her thin body, wincing at how incredible skinny she was. To his disgust, she seemed to feel like a skeleton with a slight coating of skin stretched over her bones. "We must leave…you are not well," he noted with strong concern.

Lucy shook her head. "No, I-I am fine. Do not worry about me, love. I swear…I am perfectly…" Lucy then began to waver, her body rocking as if she were about to fall.

"Would you…do you wish for me to carry you, Lucy?"

He did not receive a direct answer from her. Lucy's hands travelled over his face, her expression weak and frail. "You…are so…God, how I love…what has happened to you…" her voice was thin and watery. Slowly, the woman's eyes began to close and she slanted her body so that her chest was leaning into his.

He had to get her back home…

With a mumble, Sweeney stretched his arm around Lucy and held her waist so that she could lean into him for support while they walked. As they made their way back home, the stares of others never seemed to end. Love was not a common thing in London. Men beat their wives and fathers even stoned their own daughters to death. The very sight of affection brought uncertainty and wonder.

Every so often, Lucy would tumble over her feet and black spots began to cloud her vision. Was the death that she had so fervently desired moments before coming to her now that she had finally found her husband?

"Lucy…we are home," Sweeney said, barely even able to believe that he would have the chance of muttering those words again. Lucy, barely able to see correctly, clutched at her husband's hand.

"Johanna…where is she? Where is our…"

"She is inside, love. You must lie down…are you…?" In sudden fear, he noticed her small frame sag. "Lucy? Can you hear me, dear?"

Her husband's encouragements and reassurances were nothing but an assortment of cluttered words as he opened the door to their house. To die now seemed almost like a favor. But, she could not simply die now! Not when she had finally found her family once more!

Once again, Lucy squeezed her eyes shut as her head was overwhelmed with a painful throb. Her hands still grasped her husband, but the pain slackened her grip and weakened her body. The woman's knees began to buckle, nausea claiming her stomach.

Johanna jumped from her chair and hurried to the pair that had just walked through the door. "What's happened?" Johanna screeched. "What is wrong with her, father?"

Lucy grasped the back of her husband's neck as Sweeney lifted her up into his arms. "She…she is not well," the barber panted.

"I can see that," Johanna muttered bitterly.

Mrs. Lovett walked forward, her eyes avoiding contact with Todd's. "You should put her down. She probably needs some food, rest, a _bath_…"

Sweeney sent the woman a deadly glance before turning to his daughter. "Alright," he said. "I shall take her up to…"

"Use my bed."

Mr. Todd shook his head. "Are you sure?"

Johanna gave him a stern look. "It's either you take her up to my bed or we sit and have a nice chat about it while my mother suffers. Use…my…bed!"

With slight shock, Mr. Todd took an instinctive step backward, his arm still held around his wife's body. "Fine, fine" he muttered in surrender.

Mrs. Lovett grinned. "You sure do have so much of your father in you," she beamed.

Johanna sent her a small smirk before her face suddenly became sullen. "Would you help us…with her?"

Would she? If the girl had just asked her to help with Lucy, her adversary for so many years, surely it meant that the girl trusted her! Perhaps, Johanna's trust could be gained if she assisted with Mrs. Barker, thus improving her relationship with Mr. Todd…

_Oh, stop it!_ She thought to herself in annoyance. _Whatever chance you had with that man is lost now! The least you can do to make up for the years of suffering he has undergone is help his wife recover! _But, with the voice of reason, there also came the voice of pure devotion. _But you love him! Why should you assist his bitch of a wife when you could have all you have ever wanted? _

"Of course I'll help you, dear," Mrs. Lovett sighed. "It would be cruel not to."

Johanna and Mr. Todd tried to ignore the miserable tone of her voice.

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**Oh, wasn't that cute? I loved writing the little reunited scene! Now, what will happen to the ill Lucy and lovesick Mrs. Lovett? Truth is I don't even know what the hell will happen! But, hey, I'm thinking…post a review and tell me if you liked my little love act! Your reviews really inspire…the more I get, the more I give! Ha, win-win situation. BYE!!! (Updates will be quick as I usually try to make them) :D**


	21. Chapter 20

Lucy had been placed in the bed that Sweeney Todd had first used for Johanna. Lifting her up the stairs had not been a task of difficulty due to her emaciated body. The years had been brutal to the beggar, for she now had horrific cuts and bruises along her face, her hair was darkened at the top from trauma, and she was covered in dirt as well as soot. The group dared not bathe her, for fear that if they were not at constant attention, she would drown.

Lucy had slipped into a state of unconsciousness, every so often, her cracked lips would part and she would moan, "Benjamin…Johanna…" repeatedly until she slipped deeper into oblivion. Occasionally, she would begin to have violent coughing fits. Blood would seep from the corners of her mouth and she would hold her hands to her mouth and allow them to slow the flow of the blood. Her breathing became that of gasping, blood would travel down her throat when she leaned back, causing her to vomit the liquid back up.

All the while, Mr. Todd sat by his wife's side, aiding when need be. Though she was clearly in a state of stupor, the man would talk to her as if she were sitting up at him, chatting like a normal husband and wife. The things he said to his wife were that of memories from their past. With a faint light in his eyes, he would speak. "Lucy, do you remember the day we were married? How pretty you looked in your dress. Small reception though, seeing that your parents had unfortunately passed on." He would grasp her lip hand with numb fingers. "You were always so kind to me. Do you remember when I was but a boy and I would sneak small glances of you in the street? Yes, I was an orphan then. But, you were so kind to me…so caring. I knew I loved you then. I only loved you…and when our baby girl came. You were so strong" His head would lean in and he would stare into her sickly face. "I need that strength to be with you now, Lucy. Please, fight this..." His voice would then break and he would return to staring into his wife's face and stroking her dead hand with his thumb.

Johanna sat with them, bringing a pot to her mother's lips whenever she would begin to purge blood, and wiping the mess off of her mother's face with a cloth. The revolting sight of her mother in such a state made the girl feel so intensely sick, she would step outside for a few moments and gulp down fresh air while she bit back tears.

Mrs. Lovett would pop her head in, gag at the sight of Lucy Barker and her condition and slip back out, absolutely disgusted by the grotesque scene. She could handle the sight of death and gore, but for a strange reason, the sight of her competition bleeding and heaving, was just too much. In all honesty, she was not much of a help, but she would bring the woman cool cloths and water, as well as a scrutiny of the woman's condition.

"Well, I'm no doctor, but I believe she is sick from living out in the streets. She probably had caught something and she started coughing too much, which explains the blood. The vomiting is probably…because of the water she might have been drinking. It isn't the cleanest…Not to worry, though. I shall buy some Laudanum to ease the pain. She should be fine with a little bed rest and clean food and water." She then scurried out of the room to buy the medicine.

Toby, being a boy of bravery, stayed next to Johanna, patting her shoulder when her mother's fits worsened. Toby learned of the identity of the woman, and though he tried to conceal his shock, he knew that he needed to be there for Johanna, and even Mr. Todd. Johanna did not deserve his fate. Johanna deserved to have parents…

The sound of Mrs. Lovett's arrival brought dread to Sweeney. Being a barber meant that one must know the remedies of illness as well as the pain relievers. Even if they meant the taker more harm than intended.

The baker approached the bed with the bottle of Laudanum in her hand. "Just a spoon full of this and she should be perfectly fine," she assured the male.

He frowned. "Laudanum is a drug, Mrs. Lovett. Do you really think that Lucy should take it after…you know…Besides, it will only make her sleep."

With a breath of impatience, Mrs. Lovett explained. "Yes, it will make her sleep even better. She won't be thrashing about and flailing her arms. The pain will subside too. All she needs is a spoonful."

Distrust was a prominent emotion inside of Todd. "I'll give it to her."

"Do you not trust me enough?"

"No," he answered in a blunt tone.

The woman shrugged her shoulders. "Fair enough…I'll get you a spoon then."

"Many thanks, Mrs. Lovett," Johanna called after her as the woman went downstairs to retrieve the spoon. She then turned to her father. "Honestly, father, be a little kinder to the woman. She is trying to help us."

Grimacing, Sweeney clutched his wife's hand in a tighter grip. "If only you knew why."

"I'm simply saying."

"I appreciate your concern. Right now, I must focus on the fact that we are about to drug my wife with a mix of opium and alcohol."

"It should help her sleep, nevertheless. Reduce the pain as well."

The door than swung opened to reveal the baker holding a spoon. "Here you are," she mumbled as she held the utensil out to Sweeney. "Not too much."

While trying to control his shaking, Mr. Todd poured the liquid into the spoon and held it to his wife's lips.

_What the hell are you doing? _He thought_. If this doesn't kill her while she is in her all too fragile state, than you my friend, are dreaming of her being here all together!_

Still, what other option did he have? Lucy was suffering as he sat there, helpless as a deer caught in a trap. If there was any chance that Lucy was going to recover, then he would have to reduce her pain. It would help. With no pain, she could sleep, and with sleep comes healing. Or at least, that's what he hoped for…

Lucy moaned as the liquid was poured into her mouth, the bitter taste stinging her mouth so harshly, that it could be tasted even in her broken sleep. Soon, the woman visibly relaxed. Her arms lay limp against her sides and her breathing became steady. She no longer coughed and the vomiting subsided as well.

"Now, we cannot give her too much. Laudanum is only to be used for emergencies until she recovers. Remember, it can be addicting if used too much."

Ignoring her father's warnings of Mrs. Lovett's strong desires, Johanna approached the woman and gave her the very thing that was least expected.

A hug.

Surprised, Mrs. Lovett patted the girl's shoulders in an awkward manner before pulling away. "Thank you, dear."

Johanna pulled away and penetrated the woman's very soul with her eyes. "No, thank you. I will forever remember this."

Unable to bear the sincerity of the girl's voice, Mrs. Lovett hurried from the room and silently wept outside of the door. So much compassion from this child, actually made the woman mourn for her loss. To watch one's mother rot on a small bed in a room filled with the stench of death…

Inside the room, Lucy laid, paralyzed from the solution. In her mind, her sanctuary, she saw the faces of her family. She gazed upon their smiling faces, how happy and tranquil their expressions were! For a moment, Lucy's eyes fluttered open and she stared into the altered appearances of her relations. The cruel hand of darkness then seized her vision once more.

The last thing she saw was the concerned expression on her Benjamin's face, hovering over her, his eyes pleading that she wake.

And still, she slept.

**Well, well, well. It would appear that our little Lucy isn't doing so well! Never fear! I can kill her if I wish my readers. I would like to introduce you to a thing called poetic license! *laughs crazily* No, but I don't think she will die…or will she? Best keep a look out to see what I do! And in case you guys are wondering…Laudanum was a drug that they used in the Victorian era. It was a mix of alcohol and opium and it was used to make people's pain subside and it helped people sleep. However, too much of it turned addicting and people did die from it, so looks like Sweeney is going to have to be real careful. It was a real bitch looking for something that Mrs. Barker could use for her condition, so I hope you guys are all cool with it. Aww… Poor Sweeney, are you okay? **

**Sweeney: NO, you bitch! Don't kill my wife!**

**Me: I never said I was going to!**

**Sweeney: If you do it…I will screw with your life to no end!**

**Me: Wow…why do you want to be with your wife so bad?**

**Sweeney: You know why…**

**Sweeney and me in our singing voices: SHE'S LIKE BUTTER!!**

**Disclaimer: you guys will find that I can be nucking futs. **


	22. Chapter 21

After the first dose of laudanum, Sweeney Todd had implored Mrs. Lovett to retrieve a doctor after he thought his wife would never wake again. Mrs. Lovett had assured him that it was the medicine that made his wife sleep, but the tremendous sense of doom never lifted its force off of the male, sending him into a dark world of fear. While Todd thrashed through his depression, the baker had called for a doctor. Not wanting the doctor to see his face, the barber returned into his old bedroom and sat in the dust, just as he had done the first few days that he had discovered Johanna, while the physician inspected his wife, outside.

Upon hearing a knock on the door of the bedroom, Mr. Todd stood leisurely and exited the room to see his daughter. The days of constant worry had brought harsh dark circles under her eyes, yet she refused to leave the side of her mother, insisting that she would not move until Lucy barker was well enough.

"She still needs rest," Johanna began. "The doctor said that she has been subjected to numerous diseases due to harsh conditions. Her coughs are symptoms of illness, most likely caused from the cold, and the vomiting is because of the blood that she had been coughing up, has been sliding into her throat due to the way she is laying. All that is needed is for her to sit up, so that if she coughs and produces blood flow, then she will not choke on it. He said to not to be in fear over the blood because it simply means that she has been coughing far too much. It is believed that with rest, she will recover, yet it will take time. Her state of unconsciousness is her body warding off the disease and fresh air is prohibited. Continue to distribute small doses of Laudanum when needed and pray." Johanna let out a breath of exhaustion. "Those were his exact words."

Sweeney put a limp hand on her shoulder. "Is she in a dangerous condition?"

With a shrug, Johanna said, "Well, considering the fact that the doctor had to rush to the death bed of a woman with Tuberculosis, I should think that it is not as harsh."

Sweeney Todd raised a black brow. "Tuberculos…what?"

Johanna gave him a thin smile. "It's Tuberculosis, father."

She then turned back to her mother's bed and sat by her side. To the surprise of many, she was awake. Her recovery may have taken long, but for the time being, she was doing better than expected. Unable to say anything in a direct manner, Johanna fell to her knees and grasped the hand of her mother. Lucy forced a smile towards her daughter, all the while battling her frantic efforts to hide the pain.

"Mother…" Johanna sighed, clearly on the verge of sobbing.

Lucy, in an attempt to relax her child, placed a small hand on the girl's arm. "Johanna."

Sweeney dashed over to Lucy's bedside after hearing the faint murmur that belonged to his wife. He too, sunk to her level and stared into his wife's watery face.

No words could be spoken at the moment. Sweeney Todd studied his fading Lucy while Johanna silently griped her mother's hand and her father's shoulder. The group gazed into each of the other's faces, still in tremendous denial that they had been reunited after fifteen agonizing years.

Fifteen painful, torturous, traumatic, years…and now here they were…Together again.

"Lucy?" Todd began in a hushed voice, his strength draining with each moment that his wife did not respond.

"Yes, my love?"

To hear the sound of her voice once more was the greatest pleasure that the barber could have ever felt after the past few days that he had teetered on the edge of bereavement. Nothing could strip the beauty of her expressions nor could it banish the sincerity of her tone.

"I will not let you die. You are not going to slip away from me again."

A groan escaped her lips. "You cannot stop fate, Benjamin. If I must leave you…"

"You will not die." He stood to his feet and began to pace across the room. "If you are to die…then I must follow."

Johanna stiffened at her father's grave tone. "Please do not speak like that, father. It frightens me to no end."

He stopped momentarily in his movements to cast Johanna a glance before continuing his pointless pacing.

In an effort to lighten the gloomy mood, Johanna decided to tell her mother of her rather fortunate condition. "Well, the doctor says that you should be just fine, mother. All you need is to stay in bed for a while and perhaps your sickness will end quicker than expected."

All of a sudden, Johanna's tone became demanding. "So we will have no more talk of death, alright? You are not going to die…" The strength in her tone slowly crumbled. Johanna stood, her hand pressed to her lips to stifle her cries. "I-I need some air," the girl choked as she made her way to the shop door and groped for the handle through her tears. The door had slammed behind the girl after her serious desire for fresh air and a moment to herself.

"Benjamin…"

He whirled around to face his wife after staring after the door that Johanna had just departed through. He hoped with dear sincerity that his daughter would be well by the time she returned.

"I am afraid to inform you of a change in my identity. It is necessary that you call me Sweeney Todd," he said as the cold pitch of his voice nearly strangled Lucy.

"Why do you wish to be called such a name?"

"If I am to be recognized…then I will be sent back to prison."

Lucy sat up, her back rigid. "You escaped?"

"They were not about to let me go free."

Her husband was an escaped convict…

Lucy placed a cool hand to her brow, thinking over the man's last words. "I simply cannot accept the fact that you have changed so drastically…for the worse. I loved Benjamin Barker."

He then turned to her, his gaze that of cold fury. "Many things have changed over the past fifteen years, Lucy," he muttered in a somber tone. With careful steps, he began to walk over to Lucy's bed, the ice in his glare making her tremble. "I am not the man I once was. Johanna has suffered years of abuse."

He stopped his advance so that he was gazing down at her small face. "We both have changed. It is obvious that you have too." She returned his stare, in a trance of terror.

These last words left the woman in a spiral of despair. She mustered together as much courage as she could to continue. "Before you rescued me," she breathed, "I spent countless nights by this very shop, overcome with the sense of doom. What has happened here?"

The man closed his eyes and let out a sigh of pure agony.

"What about Judge Turpin? What if he recognizes you…or Johanna?"

Sweeney backed away from her, his mind whirling with truths and lies. He had the strength to tell his daughter…his wife would know the truth as well. Life was too altered. Any chance of Lucy finding out the truth on her own would be too dangerous. She already knew so much. If she was to know who he really was, then it would begin with one small sentence.

"I killed him."

Lucy stopped breathing, her heart seeming to stop along with her breath.

A dark madness spread throughout Mr. Todd's eyes, consuming his temporary happiness. "I killed the judge, the beadle, that idiot that we hired to sweep up hair, and countless other men, Lucy."

A shuddering snarl escaped the corners of his mouth, tears streaming down his face. She would know. She deserved to know…that was the only reason he could go on. His love did not deserve to live an unsuspecting life with a cold killer.

"Is this who you love?"He grasped her bruised arm, blindness consuming his joy as he looked into her icy eyes. _She deserved the truth…even if it killed him…Lucy would choose her fate…his fate_.

He grabbed both sides of her head in a tight grip. "But he did not have the strength to face the world, Lucy. Prison killed him, losing his wife killed him, missing his daughter killed him! There was nothing left for Benjamin Barker except vengeance." He leaned his face closer to hers, almost pleading with his eyes. "Sweeney Todd knew how to hate. And I assure you, Sweeney Todd loved Benjamin Barker."

Lucy shrunk away from the hands that held her face, sorrow gripping her with a strangling force. _Her Benjamin…Could she love this monster of a man? Was this man that she had cherished when they were happily married…when she had pressed the arsenic to her lips? _

"And I…Sweeney Todd, have had my vengeance." He pulled away from her and placed his hands on the floor as he stared downward on his knees. Pain burst like fire through his chest as he gently pushed her away…when all he wanted to do was hold her, to feel her tender skin lie in his protecting arms…

"You deserved to know." He said as a feeling of despair clutched at his very soul. Johanna had reentered the shop, but she remained by the doorway, standing quietly with her hands clasped.

And for once, Benjamin Barker and Sweeney Todd wept as one.


	23. Chapter 22

Sweeney Todd's confession had brought the out the worst of Mrs. Barker's fears, terrifying her into hyperventilation until her husband fell to the floor, begging for forgiveness and whispering her name in a compelling voice. Time passed by as she sat, deliberating whether she should stand and run off with her daughter, never to return to the damned house again.

"You not deserve what I am, Lucy," he would insist as he pressed on his eyes with his forceful hands.

The look on Johanna's face was enough to banish the very thought of running from Lucy's mind. Johanna still stood near the doorway of the shop, her face holding pure and excruciating grief. Lucy had stared into the eyes of her lost child, searching for an answer to a mystery that still remained unknown.

She had found her answer.

In Johanna's eyes, she saw sympathy for her father….unfathomable empathy. Lucy sat in immense wonder as she studied the girl's inner feelings for the man, seeking the understanding that her daughter had so easily established. It was evident that the girl loved him very much. She saw no fear in Johanna's eyes, instead she saw understanding. Johanna had known of her father's deeds, and she had mustered the strength and benevolence to forgiven.

"How long have you know of this, Johanna?" Lucy panted.

Johanna sent the back of her father a fleeting look and retorted, "I have known for quite some time, mother."

_Quite some time…_ "And what… how did you cope with the truth?" Lucy questioned while shifting her eyes towards her daughter more intently, for her husband now gazed at her with bitter heartache. The sorrow in his gaze was too difficult to look upon.

Johanna stepped towards her kneeling father and placed a calm hand on his shoulder. "Well," she started in an attentive manner, "My reaction to the truth was much more dramatic than yours." She sat next to her father while her hand continued to rest on him.

"I tried to run, I cried, I shrunk against a wall," Johanna added with a sort of amusement in her tone. Her voice became sullen and thoughtful once more. "But then I thought myself in his position. What would I have done in my terrible pain, knowing that the man-the thing who had ruined my life was still breathing upon this earth, corrupting countless others? I understood his position for Turpin's and Bamford's slaying.'

"As for the random men's demise…" Johanna paused, almost unsure of what to say. She blinked her eyes a few times before responding, "I do not understand the motive for their murders."

With a despondent nod, Lucy looked upon her husband, torture in her gaze, almost begging him to tell her that the straightforward idea of him murdering numerous men was a malicious attempt at a joke.

"I do not want to comprehend the motives for his murders. I only wanted to forgive him and live my days with the father I had been deprived of for such as extensive amount of time," Johanna concluded with a small smile. "And I believe I have been doing just that."

The girl's last remark sent a river of tears pooling out of Lucy's eyes. One girl had shown her more compassion in one moment than the woman had seen in nearly a lifetime.

Swaying for she had been in bed for a remarkably long time, Lucy stood on her feet. Footsteps seemed to send the senses of every person in the room, reeling, both for the sake of fear and uncertainty. As the woman sank to her husband's level, she spoke with words that were no louder than a brush of wind.

"Life without you was intoxicating enough for me. To have you so close…and to deny you," she swallowed the difficulty that had begun to lump in her throat, "would be an act of a fool."

As her arms trembled, the tone of her voice became thick with tears. "I love you, Benjamin Barker…d-do you still care for me…after what I have done?"

"What," he asked warily, "have you done, exactly?"

In a sort of regretful approach, Mrs. Barker told of her previous practice. "When I was thriving on waste from the streets and hunting for coins in the smallest of measure…I was ready to do anything to survive.'

"At first, I was not completely revolting and men actually did pay for me to…to sleep with them."

The mere sentence turned Mr. Todd's blood to ice water. His wife was a prostitute. She had sold her body so she could survive the demanding world. With a shudder, he listened to the continuation of her anecdote.

She began once more. "For the years that you were gone, I continued to meet the needs of every man I could grasp, soon resulting in these…damages to my…body."

Sensing her extreme discomfort, Sweeney Todd stopped her. "I understand," he spat, livid and perturbed.

Lucy regretted the moment she insinuated that she had a previous trait. Leaning against the post of the bed, the courage she had gathered began to slowly drain. "Do you?"

"Do I what, Lucy?" Todd questioned, acid dripping from his words.

"Do you still love me?"

_What sort of a question was that? Of course he stilled worshiped the very ground his wife walked upon! But, after all that she had done…did she now question his faithfulness towards her? The misogynistic men demeaned her, while they so selfishly claimed her body until she could barely feel worthy of love_.

Stunned beyond belief, Sweeney Todd enveloped his wife into his embrace, once more feeling the sickly bones that jabbed out of her structure, and once again, cradling her head to his chest. "My love for you will never end, Lucy," he soothed, so as to not upset her any more while she teetered on the edge of falling apart in his arms. Inexhaustible tears began to sodden the cloth of his shoulder, during which Sweeney gave his daughter a thankful glance.

Following her husband's eyes, Lucy then reached out to Johanna to have the girl join the embrace, both parents smiling slightly at their daughter as she wrested her head on her father's shoulder and held onto her Lucy's hand, feeding off of her father's strength and using it as her own to support her distressed mother.

A hunted and tortured man, a grief-stricken suicidal woman, and a young girl forced into fear and submission. All now held one and other, embracing the joy that had found them.

Lucy had made a decent recovery from the sickness, yet she was still instructed by her demanding husband to relax, as well as eat. Much to Lucy's distaste, Sweeney Todd instructed her to eat the food he had given her, always stating, "You are far too skinny."

She had been given a bath, where she refused help from anyone other than herself. A bath would be sacred to her…almost as if she were washing away her sorrows.

The water had stung her sealing wounds as she slowly slipped into its nearly sinful warmth. Mrs. Barker ran the soap over her stained body and hair, so that the water was a dark murky color, yet her body came out fresh, though not renewed in the absolute.

Minor bruises and scars still remained on the woman's flesh, the scars most likely permanent. Other marks adorned her skin. Joy swept through her as the woman slipped off the old, torn, and filthy dress that she had worn for so long, and then Lucy shrugged off the slight spots of discomfort as she slipped on a dress that had once been hers. The gown had minor holes in its material and slight stains, due to its age, but to the woman, it was a dress fit for Queen Victoria herself.

Much to Mrs. Barker's surprise, her hair had undergone an extreme transformation, as did her skin. Gold seemed to spiral down from the crown of her head and her body took on a paler complexion. The stranger that stared back at her through her husband's mirror delicately smiled.

That is when Sweeney Todd's tolerance was truly tested. _Seeing his wife, nearly appearing the same as she had so many years ago, was truly difficult, when all he wanted to do was sweep her into his arms and send raging kisses all over her petite frame and…_

_What was he thinking? This was his wife! The wife who had just been rescued from the streets, prostituting herself so she could stay alive! And he wanted to have her to himself after all of the horror she had been through?_

In an attempt to contain his passionate thoughts, Sweeney Todd thrust most of his attention into his daughter, his wife's well being, the career in which he had professionalized in, and when he was in his particularly brooding moods, his razors. Anger still lingered inside of him, churning in his chest. After all that had happened to him and his family, to banish all of the negative emotions inside of him would be one of the hardest acts to accomplish.

Lucy had been informed of her daughter's past, the truth nearly killing her on the inside. A constant guilt of attempting to take her own life when she had a baby girl to tend to was unbearable. The feeling of her being at fault for the loss of her daughter's innocence made Lucy Barker utterly sick.

Nellie Lovett had strived to rekindle the friendship that they once had. Nellie kept a distance while striking up a conversation whenever the time was possible in order to establish closeness with the woman, possibly to settle the demons of the past that still continued to haunt her.

As the businesses of proper meat pies and humane barbering continued, life seemed to return to the blissful state it once had been.

If only the good could remain…

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**Oh Shazbat! It would appear that our innocent little family is not going to be doing so good! What will happen in the next chapters? Here's a preview…**

**Love Scenes!!Sweeney: Yes!**

**Murder!!Sweeney: Oh thank god!**

**Blood!!Sweeney: I miss that stuff…**

**Cops!!Sweeney: WTF??!! **

**And so much more…Stay tuned folks, and leave a review! I miss those…Thanks to all that have left a review, especially the new ones! Lack of reviews is the low point of my existence, but you guys have been pretty generous so thank you!**

**And one more thing, I would like to personally thank Xxjemma-cullenxX for leaving a little thing on their profile about my story! I love you and all my other readers (mostly if you review)! Bye!**


	24. Chapter 23

Sweeney had begun to brush his chair off because of the hair remnants that had congregated on the material, causing an irritating feeling if one was to seat upon the chair. While he brushed the hair away, Lucy and Johanna were in the next room for the purpose of restoring the old bedroom. Johanna had grabbed a broom and began to brush the dust away as Lucy wiped the grime off of the windows that soon began to penetrate the golden light. Perhaps, they thought, the bedroom could be restored to its previous condition, if one tried.

A sharp knock came upon the barber's door. "Bloody customer," Sweeney hissed as he forced a smile on his face and walked towards the door. Through the glass, he could make out the distorted images of Mrs. Lovett standing next to a male figure that was clothed in black material.

As he opened the door for them, Lucy and Johanna came out of the other room, curiosity written all over their faces. Mrs. Lovett stepped in, a smile etched on her face as well.

"Mr. Todd," she instructed, "this gentleman would like a shave."The man arched his head downward and lifted the hat off of his head.

A sharp breath escaped Sweeney Todd as he stared at the man. The gentleman had steely, cold, blue eyes that seemed to study every movement that was made in the room. The eyes burned Todd, puncturing the most painful of memories that time had buried in his mind, rousing them to the surface once more. His hair was a light auburn that hung slightly in his eyes, granting him the shady appearance of a stealthy examiner. The skin that stretched over his bones was a pale, hard as chaste marble, comingling with the light eyes. Sweeney looked downward, positive that his own appearance was probably as cold, if not colder, than his. But it most certainly was not the appearance of the man that worried Mr. Todd.

It was the identity.

Mrs. Lovett sent the barber a wondering glance. Todd had gripped the razor that was previously rested in its holster. With a threatening glance, the barber motioned for the man to sit in the chair, the smile on his face, horribly tainted. _Why did Mr. T suddenly look so tense? What about this man alarmed him so? _

"Do you have any other preferences, sir? A haircut…a skin massage…?"

The man cut him off with a curt, "No, a shave." He leaned back into the chair, though his body remained firm, as if he were ready for sudden drastic action if need be.

Sweeney sent his family a dismissive look, only to be ignored by his daughter as she sat on top of the trunk, crossing her feet and waiting for the man to take his leave when the shave had completed. Lucy followed her daughter's lead, only her moves were more graceful, Johanna's, hard and determined.

Applying the lather only grated on the barber's nerves to a greater measure. The man kept his eyes peeled as the lather brushed across his face. Soon, Sweeney placed the materials down and picked up the razor he had been previously gripping onto when his customer's face had clicked into the barber's memory.

The shave had begun. With gentle strokes, Sweeney Todd ran the razor over the man's stubble, the shaver cutting away all facial hair in a single caress.

In his Mr. Todd's psyche, a clear image illustrated his blade sliding across the neck of his customer, the metallic cling causing laughter as the crimson fluid drained with the man's life. The illusion vanished when the customer's icy voice shattered all silence.

"Barber, how long have you been residing here in London?"

"… Nearly a year, sir…"

The man shifted his head so that the other side of his unshaven face was facing the barber's blade. "Where did you come from?"

"I originated from Crewe, England."

"Small town…Is that where you came from before you moved here to London?"

_Lie. _

"Yes it was, sir," Todd's short reply came; his answers purposefully short, only answering the man's question and nothing more.

The client ran a hand over the now smooth side of his face. "I, too, have come from far away." Auburn hair fell lightly as he turned to stare at the bare wall, seeming to forget where he was and to whom he spoke.

Deep in reflection, he garbled, "I actually used to be a guard. Moved here after one of my prisoners…" Realizing that he was speaking out loud to a suspecting public, the man's mouth closed with a slight snap.

"After one of you prisoners did…what, sir?"

"Never mind, barber."

Bighting his tongue in order to resist the impulsive to snap back at the man, the sickening smile on Mr. Todd's face only increased, never reaching his eyes.

"Your shave is finished, Mr.…?"

"Thorne...You may call upon me as such."

_Victor Thorne…Botany Bay._

"I must say," Thorne said as he stood, narrowing his eyes. "You are a strikingly familiar fellow."

While gritting his teeth, Todd managed a low, "You surly have me mistaken for another."

"I figured as much," he answered back while returning to the corner to recover his hat. The hat, Todd noticed, seemed to cover Mr. Thorne's face a slight bit more, darkening the all too threatening eyes even more so. Retrieving the barber's payment from his pocket, Thorne handed Sweeney the sum, not bothering to thank the man for his service.

Mr. Thorne was too busy studying Sweeney Todd's face.

"Are you quite sure that we have not met before?"

"As much of a privilege it would be to have known a fine gentleman such as you," answered Mr. Todd, "I am positive that I have not been fortunate enough to have made your acquaintance earlier on in my life." Thorne raised his eyebrows, the action barely seen by Sweeney.

"I should hope that you would return. Your patronage is most…" Todd paused for a sickly moment. "…most gratifying."

"Well, you should see me again. I reside here in London, as well. Listen to me, now, I have a favor to ask you," his voice lowered to a whisper.

Leaning in so that it was heard, Thorne spoke softly, increasing the dangerous pitch of his words. "Should you ever…here of any convicts around here, let me know. If I turn one in, that would mean I get my job back. You will be rewarded. Should you not report anything that is within your knowledge," Thorne strutted to the door and opened it, concluding over his shoulder, "then you will be punished."

Todd gave a mock bow. "And how shall I inform you if I do see anything amiss?"

"I shall grace you with weekly presences."

"I can hardly wait, sir. Have a prosperous day…and sir?"

Thorne looked outside, though he listened to Todd's final words. "The next shave you get will be the closest one you will have ever been lucky enough to know. Good day, Mr. Thorne."

Thorne slammed the door behind him, barely able to contain his wild thoughts, as he truged down the streets of London, mind whirling over the possibilities of who this Mr. Todd truly was.

Lucy stood and walked towards her husband, placing a pleading hand on his arm as he stared after the door, eyes wide with a lust for a force that was not yet known.

"Who was that?" Johanna asked her father as she slipped off of the trunk and walked towards the door to gaze at Mr. Thorne's fading figure.

Sweeney looked Lucy in the eyes. "Next time he arrives, you are to immidietly take your leave so that I may be with him alone. Do you understand?"

Shaking her head, Lucy began to question. "But who was he…how do you know him? I do not like him…he-he is so…who is he?"

While stroking his razor clean, Todd replied, "An old friend that I was lucky enough to meet a Batony Bay."

Lucy furrowed her brow. "But that's where you…were…imprisoned." Her eyes grew large with horror. "And he said he was a guard at prison. Oh, do you think he recognized you?"

As the razor glinted in the light, Sweeney Todd held it up to his eyes and peered into its demanding reflection. His figure was so vague in its reflection…

Soon, the smile that rested on his face became one of pleasure. He allowed vengeance to creep back into his soul, consuming any warmth in his heart with black hatred, hatred that allowed no rules, no limits, only simple satisfaction of sliding a razor across the enemy's throat.

"What are we going to do?" Johanna asked fearfully as she hugged her arms to her chest.

"My dear, in dire times, old habits can be reborn and benefited from," he purred in a silky voice as he lifted the razor over his eyes to block any sunlight from his vision.

Lucy cast Johanna a nervous glance. Had she already failed to save her husband from the dark hatred that he had so recently surcumbed to?

"Very valuable habits…"

Sunbeams disappeared, and Todd's soul was darkened as a new enemy was created and a new lust for vengeance was generated.

Victor Thorne was as good as dead. Sweeney Todd would have his revenge, his salvation. The elusive, the vengeful…

Demon Barber of Fleet Street!

The razor glinted with laughter. They were back. He was back and once again…

Sweeney Todd had a purpose.

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**DAMN! Our sweet Sweeney has officially turned to the dark side once more! YES! I love him when he's dark and brooding…it's incredibly sexy. So this Victor Thorne guy, yeah, he's no good. He guarded Sweeney when he was in jail and got fired after Sweeney escaped. You are probably wondering why he does not recognize him…well, it's because when you are slaving away, men grow beards, they get dirty, sunburned, stressed…etc., so all of those factors contribute to the whole, "OH my god, who the hell is that familiar barber that looks like an escaped convict?" theory. Obviously, Mr. Thorne is going to give our precious Sweeney and company some hell so stick with me! And one more thing…I am really sorry but I might not be able to update for another week because of all of the crap I got to take care of. I should be able to update soon as I can. Review my dears! **

**Until we meet again!**

**-Lovebug**


	25. Chapter 24

Victor Thorne had not come back. Weather it was the suspicions that kept him back or the premonitions that haunted the man, it was known for certain that he would not return to that shop until he knew. He needed to know.

The howling wind tore at Mr. Thorne's coat as he made his way into town, determined to find the one he was searching for, even if it meant giving up the comforts of his small home. Suspicions had to be confirmed.

He had no family; there was no reason for such foolish commitments. If the past guard had wanted any pleasures that came to being with a woman, he would hire a prostitute. Women were meant for one purpose, and that was to be there in bed and to be gone before the sun rose. Children irked one to the highest point, until control was inevitably lost. Family, how the heart yearned, yet reason simply denied.

Victor crossed the road, glaring at any fool who dared step to close to his stride, or any woman who had the audacity to allow her gaze to linger. As he approached a group of London Bobbies, a smile formed slowly on his pale lips. He would have what he yearned for.

"Good evening, gentlemen," Victor droned with a tip of his head. "I believe I have something to report."

"Oh, you do, do you?" one of the officers jeered. "Oy, I ain't heard a good story in a while."

"I do believe this one may be of particular interest."

"Well, go on then!"

Scowling, Thorne explained in a sly voice. "I do not suppose you have the recollection of a man named Benjamin Barker?"

A constable lifted his head in interest. "I was the one who arrested the bloke. What about him?"

"Do you believe that it is possible that he returned here to London? I do. I have the slightest presentiment that he is back."

A hearty laugh escaped the man, his laughter shaking his stomach so that he clutched at it, tears of mirth stinging his eyes. "That blighter…Benjamin Barker…Back?"

"Please gentlemen, this is very serious…"

"Serious? Good lord, man. Barker was shipped off to Australia!"

"I am well aware of that. Are you in the knowledge that he escaped from Australia, dear constable?" Victor questioned in great displeasure.

The smile on the man's face faded. "How would you know that? You are merely a citizen."

Now the mortification was nearsighted.

"I am Victor Thorne, personal guard to Barker's rank. I was there when the man escaped on a raft he constructed and I…"

"Like hell you are! Victor Thorne. You are the idiot that allowed Barker to make his attempt! Do you honestly think that a mere prisoner can escape a continent on the other end of the world and manage to swim his way back to London, jovial and breathing? He's at the bottom of the blasted sea, eating sand for breakfast while you stand here, questioning his existence," the man roared.

"Barker is dead as is your career because you could not see a prisoner, plain as day, constructing a raft in the woods! I ought to be easy on you though. We got word of his escape less than a year ago…served us a real good laugh."

The guard motioned towards the end of the street. "Get out of our sights before we take you to prison for unjustified hallucination, you bleeding fool."

Victor spat at the floor on which the officers stood, his act of disrespect only ridiculed by the guards' shrieks of hilarity.

Very well! If the law was not on his side then he, Victor Thorne, would take matters into his own hands. He damn well knew that this barber by the name of Sweeney Todd was none other than the naïve Benjamin Barker! But perhaps, not as naïve…After all, time does change a man.

What would he do? How would he proceed to take on this new challenge? It was simple. There were women at Todd's home…One way to break a man was to take the ones he loved, was it not? If he was to get Sweeney Todd to break, he would have to attack from different places…from the areas where one hurts the most… Maybe then he could _convince_ the barber to give the law a confession in which he stated his true identity. Then he, Victor Thorne, would get his career, as well as his honor back. It was just a matter of how and when to strike…

He would have to wait…and then he would attack with as much power as he could. Then he would win. Victor Thorne never lost.

Sweeney continued to do what he mostly did on his brooding days. He paced, sharpened his razor, gazed out of his window, and imagined what it would be like to run his blade across the vulnerable neck of his enemy.

Lucy and Johanna had returned back to work, Lucy restoring her old bedroom while Johanna helped with the pie making business.

The bedroom had been dusted off and the sheets were washed, yet a certain force darkened the room to Lucy. Perhaps it was the degrading past or it was that the window was smudged again. Sweeney did not seem to take any interest in the room. He allowed his gaze to linger for a while, his eyebrows pulling together as he took on a face of exposure. The stone glare had then returned and he left the room without a word towards his wife. Lucy sighed to herself and lied down on the bed where her old husband would stroke her hair as he vowed his love to her.

Johanna's mind returned to the man whom her father had been menacing over for the past week or two. Mr. Thorne had given her the coldest glare her eyes had ever seen when she had first met him, yet the look in her father's eyes seemed to take the lead. Her father was a far more terrifying man when he was in his ominous moods. Far more…

Johanna yelped as she dropped the cup in which she had been serving a man scotch. He sat back with a start, and muttered, "Christ, miss! Are you feeling right in the head?"

With a nod, Johanna placed the cup upright and filled the glass with the pitcher's contents. "I do apologize, sir." These days were truly taking their toll.

"Alright, alright," he mumbled under his breath.

A miserable sigh escaped Johanna as she leaned against an empty booth, exhaustion and worry devastating her. "Damn idiot," she whispered to herself.

A man on the other side of the eating area raised his cup in the air, most likely in need for another refill. His hand was held high in the air, as if he was holding it high in determination.

Gathering her strength, Johanna lifted herself to a straight position and walked towards the man whose cup was still raised in the air. A hat concealed his face so that the girl could barely make out any movements.

She approached him with a smile of formality, only to be swapped with a look of opened mouthed horror. Mr. Thorne gave her a delicate grin and motioned towards the empty seat in front of him.

"Please," he hissed. "Take a seat."

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**LIKE A MOTHER! Thorne is going to start screwing with Sweeney so bad and Sweeney is going to get so incredibly pissed, you won't know who the bad guy is!**

**Ha, so leave a review and thanks for the new ones. I missed you guys and you all will be credited for them. **

**As you know, a Sweeney Todd story cannot be a Sweeney Todd story unless there is death, angst, or death. So, my readers, I would like you to inform you that character deaths are on their way. You may leave a review and tell me who you wish to live or die, but I pretty much made up my mind. I just like to see how you guys think! **

**Okay, you have been warned. I'm going to go now and I should be able to update early next week.**

**Your obedient author, **

**Lovebug **


	26. Chapter 25

Johanna gazed about her, searching for something-anything could gain her freedom from this horrible man.

"Girl," he muttered in a far more compelling tone, "I believe I told you to have a seat."

With a hopeless breath, Johanna sunk into the chair opposite of Mr. Thorne. He wore a black shirt, though most of it was hidden by a dark coat that draped over his torso.

"What do you want, sir?" Johanna inquired her eyes keen and alert.

"I am not going to deceive you, my dear. I know of your father's past. DO NOT stand or draw any attention. I would like you to listen."

Attempting to hide her horror, the teen straightened her spine and pierced the man with a vicious gaze. "Please," she muttered coolly. "Continue with your jest."

"Oh this is no gag." A smile began to spread on the man's face as he admired the girl's entertaining terror. "Your father's name is Benjamin Barker and he escaped his prison from Australia only to wind up here, at the very same place where he was taken. Do not deny me this truth."

"What do you want from us?" Johanna responded her pitch now rose to that of begging. "Please do not…"

"Oh, I already went to the authorities."

With a shriek of panic, she receded to her chair and pressed a fist to her mouth in order to keep from crying out once more. Pure fear exuded her face, widening her eyes and sending shivers through her petite body.

Drinking in her anguish, Victor merely shook his head, the smile never fading. "They laughed at the very thought of him being Barker."

Fear turned into red anger as Johanna leaned forward and whispered, "Well, at least the authorities have done something right over these past years."

"Johanna, what are you doing?"

Johanna looked up to see none other than her father. Sweeney stood, menacing as always, scowling at the man with whom his daughter sat.

Victor waved off Sweeney's attempt at parenting. "We were having a simple discussion."

"More like blackmail!" Johanna hissed.

"I deeply loathe people who blackmail, Mr. Thorne. For your sake, I hope that my daughter has made a mistake," Sweeney Todd warned, while lowering his eyes so that he did not muster any attention.

"Blackmail? I daresay, no! I was simply conversing over the fact that I am looking for a man by the name of Benjamin Barker. Do you know him, Mr. Todd?"

Mr. Todd stood, silently fuming. "No," he replied, seething.

Indulging in the fury that Todd gave off, Victor stood. "My attempts are not in vain. I know that Barker is in London. Be he near or far, so long as he is alive, I will follow him. So long as there is air in my lungs, I will pursue him. I will not fail."

Sweeney grasped his daughter's arm, pulling her up and away from Mr. Thorne, protectively, yet forcefully. "You have my best wishes! Now, please get out. People could truly use this table."

Turning to her father, Johanna whimpered, her voice low so that it did not carry, "No, father, he said that he knew who you were! He knows!"

"Yes, father, he knows," Thorne mocked after listening in. "Do you honestly you can fool a man who has watched you rot in your cell for fifteen years? The authorities may not believe me, but I all I need is a confession from you and your little family should be perfectly fine. You do want that; do you not, Mr. Barker?"

Sending Thorne a sickly smile, Todd shook his head. "May I live to see the day where Benjamin Barker watches you die a slow, agonizing, and satisfying death."

Thorne produced a frown at the barber's menacing aura. If he were too get this man to confess, it would not be a task of ease.

"I agree," Mrs. Lovett interjected from behind the two of them.

Johanna piped up as well. "Roast in hell!"

"That's enough from you," Todd whispered to Johanna in a light tone as Mr. Thorne turned to leave.

"Are you not frightened of him?"

Todd shook his head and led his daughter to the area in which the drinks were kept. "A man who claims to see Barker after fifteen years who has lost his job and been made a fool out of the authorities…no, must say that I have dealt with far more…dangerous men. Just don't you go around talking to any of them, do you understand?"

Johanna let out a sigh. "Yes, I understand. But I still do believe that he should roast in hell."

Sweeney sent the girl a half smile. "Thorne would be a very foolish man indeed if he were to try and disturb a girl like you, Johanna."

With a smile of satisfaction, Johanna skipped back to her customers with Mrs. Lovett, ignoring the foreboding feeling of doom that continuously claimed her mind.

***************************************************************

**A Few Weeks later….**

_Down, down, up, not quite sharp enough!_

Todd stood over his razor, running the blade smoothly over the surface of the sharpener, squinting in the darkness of his shop, for the only source of light in the room were a small lantern and a cloudy moon.

Thorne had not returned for quite some time, now, and though Sweeney did fear his return, a part of him wished for the man to show up at his door, only to be greeted by his sharpened blade.

All thoughts of his bloodlust ceased as soon as he heard a door creak open. Glancing up, Sweeney saw his wife standing in her nightdress, white as a ghost.

Lucy had been struggling to find sleep over the past few weeks, while Johanna agreed that she would take a small bedroom that was located next to Mrs. Lovett's room. Sweeney had dozed only in his chair for a few chance times, awakened when the slightest noise was made. Sleep, to the barber, was improbable.

"I…I…cannot sleep. Would you…?"

"Of course," he agreed as he pocketed the blade. He gestured for her to return to the bedroom, assuring her that he would follow suit.

As she slipped into the bed, Mr. Todd sat in a chair that they had placed in the corner of the room. Leaning forward, Todd watched intently as he waited for sleep to come to his wife. _This could take quite a while._

After a few minutes, Lucy slipped out of bed once more and stood before her husband.

"In order for you to rest, you need to actually be in the bed, Lucy," Sweeney corrected his wife, though she made no movements.

"I do not want to sleep."

"What do you want, exactly?"

"You."

Lucy's answer made Todd grasp the handles of the chair and grow rigid. "I am here," he mumbled under his breath.

"You know what I mean."

"NO, I am afraid that…I do not."

_How could he simply stare at her when he knew how much she had missed him? _

Lucy remained standing, while Todd sat, toying with his resistance, as she stood, struggling with the desire to lurch towards him and wrap her arms around the wiry head of hair that rested upon his ghastly head.

Digging his fingernails into his skin, Sweeney continued his vain attempts to control his strong desires, as well. With a sigh, he pulled his arms towards his broad chest and leaned back into the chair in which he sat.

_Now, he was just being cruel._

Lucy rocked on her heels, brushing away the betraying tears that stung her eyes, causing Todd's structure to sag and his defenses to weaken.

"What do you want from me, Lucy?"

"I want to…I want to feel you! To hold you close to me and know without a trace of doubt that you love me and I will never lose you again! Don't you understand?" She wrung her hands and let sobs overtake her, welcoming the pain. Anything was better than the numb feeling she had been so accustomed to.

On instinct, Sweeney bounded from his chair and covered her with his arms, grimacing as Lucy melted into his embrace. _He could never deny her anything._

Shaking with fear and…anticipation, Sweeney lifted his wife's face to his and placed kissed on every tear that was rolling down her cheeks. In a sudden burst of lust, he grabbed her face between his hands and touched her lips with his.

Lucy staggered against him, causing Todd to gently push her onto the bed and continue to passionately claim her lips once more. Deeper and deeper the kiss went, Sweeney drinking in the feel of his wife's body against his, of her sweet taste on his lips.

Nothing mattered any longer…anything except his lover. _His Lucy..._

Placing delicate hands over her husbands, she dove into his embrace after feeling a slight tremor beneath her own hands. He was as frightened as she!

They both now lay on the bed, Lucy somewhat surprised by the slight aggression in her husband's advances. His gestures, harsh, almost angry against her body, were never rejected. Fifteen years was far too long.

The night went on as two lost souls found and laid claim to one and other once more.

*********************************************************

Sweeney woke with a start, shocked to find Lucy in his arms.

_Where was he?_

Looking around, the barber realized with a slight remorse that he was in bed with his wife.

_In bed with his abused wife!_

Sitting straight, Todd groaned at his weakness, causing Lucy to stir and wake as well.

"Are…you alright, love?"

Shaking his head, Sweeney gazed down at his arms which were still wrapped around Lucy, protective as ever. "We should not have done this."

With a smile, Lucy placed her head on his chest. "No, I am glad we did. I have not felt so good since the day I was reunited with you."

Holding her closer, he breathed in the florescent scent that came from her skin.

_No. He needed to stop this immediately, before he did something that truly degraded his wife. She was mistreated for fifteen years!_

After leaving his wife and properly attending to himself, Sweeney Todd left the room and slipped out into the night.

Without a sound, Todd crammed his fists in his pockets and stared at the moon, its white faced dusted with shining stars.

Never had he seen such a glorious night sky

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**My god, never have I written such a touching love scene. (Yet totally awkward, I mean, wow) I hoped you liked it and I should update soon! Ha, my guy friend said that he got very horny after this. I hope he was not lying. **


	27. Chapter 26

As if on purpose, Sweeney did anything he could to avoid his wife for the next few days. Be it shaving customers or throwing himself into conversation with Johanna, (even with Mrs. Lovett if measures were drastic) it always worked as a distraction, despite the fact that his aloofness irked Lucy. She knew that the night they had spent together could be the only cause of his detachment, and yet, he still gave her short glances that only lingered when her attention was elsewhere. He wanted her as much as she desired him. It was guilt that kept its icy grip on the man, reminding him that his wife was not to be jostled around as if she were created for one _purpose_. He did not want to go back to that once more.

For those past few tormenting days, Lucy not only was deliberately shunned by her regretful husband, she was feeling unwell once more. Eleanor Lovett had shown profound concern when Lucy had gripped the edges of a door, swaying until a wave of nausea left her, yet the paleness of her skin remained. Thus beginning the illness that Mrs. Barker felt each day, without so much as a moment of peace.

On the third day of her illness and her husband's spurning, Lucy had sat down with Mrs. Lovett, teetering on the edge of falling apart. She no longer cared that this woman had been flirtatious with her husband at every waking moment, her concerns of this woman diminished the moment she decided that she needed one thing that was not a cold husband nor an understanding, but melancholic daughter. She wanted a friend.

It was Sunday, and it had been requested by the baker that they take every Sunday off, for sheer exhaustion was inevitable after such a long week of pies and shaves.

Toby seemed to enjoy the days off, often spending them with Johanna by prancing outside or playing on Mrs. Lovett's piano. Since it was slightly overcast outdoors, Toby and Johanna sat down at the piano and began sounding out the notes to the song, "Come into the Garden, Maud."

Sweeney came down from his shop and leaned against the parlor wall, curious when he heard the hideous pitch of the piano as the children began to play with the notes of the song, giggling as the piano gave forth a sharp pitch.

Lucy sat down as Lovett handed her a cup of tea with lemon and honey. Sitting down so that her attention was undivided, Mrs. Lovett began to talk with the distressed Lucy, attempting to be a sort of friend to the woman. "How you been feeling, dear."

Sighing as she lifted a single finger to her cup to swirl around the rim, Lucy spoke in hushed tones so that no one but Nellie could hear her. "I-I have not been…myself, Nellie. I think I'm dying."

Eleanor let out a soft laugh. "No, Lucy, you are far from death!"

The children had begun to sing with the correct key. "_Come into the garden, Maud, for the black bat, night, has flown, Come into the garden, Maud, I am here at the gate alone."_

Trembling, Lucy clasped her hands in front of the cup. "No, I do not feel right! My own husband…he has not spoken to me in days."

Mrs. Lovett raised a brow. "Why would he ignore you? You're everything to him!" she said with a slight envy.

"_And the woodbine spices are wafted aboard, and the musk of the rose is blown."_

Lucy gasped out her response. "We…were…" The woman now wept, placing her head in her hands and her shoulders shaking with despair. It sounded as if she were about to heave.

Mrs. Lovett leaned backward and placed a hand to her head.

"_For a breeze of morning moves, And the planet of love is on high, Beginning to faint in the light that she loves on a bed of daffodil sky, to faint in the light of the sun that she loves," _

Lucy had done the unimaginable. She had made love to the only man that Mrs. Lovett had known to love. It was obvious, yet truly crushing. The truth caused Mrs. Lovett to look down upon her folded hands and hide her betraying tears.

"_To faint in his light and to die."_

The children had decided to finish the song after the first bridge and now sat, laughing at their small accomplishment. Sweeney had left the parlor, stopping suddenly when he saw the two sobbing women. Furrowing his brow, he stepped towards the two.

"Why are you…both crying?"

Mrs. Lovett stood and wiped any tears away from her face, scratching her skin with the rough hem of her dress. "I wasn't crying!"

Sweeney sent his shaking wife a glance and muttered, "Lucy, are you feeling well?"

Lucy did not respond. Moaning and grasping her head, she leaned forward in her seat. "I am going to be sick," she finally sputtered as her skin took on a grey shade.

"What can we do?" Lovett asked as she patted the blonde's hand, though the touch was light and quick.

Suddenly standing, Lucy sobbed even louder. "I don't want anything!"

Sweeney sent Mrs. Lovett a curt glance. "Would you like to be alone for a while?"

Lucy gave a quick nod. With a long look towards his wife and walked from the room, followed by the baker.

What was wrong with her? Why did she feel this way?

Unsure of herself, Lucy decided that she would see a doctor, and diagnose whatever state of depression she was going through. If she was dying, she had the right to know.

Not wanting to draw any attention to herself, Lucy grabbed a shawl and slipped out of the house, away from the concerned husband, the jealous baker, and the laughing children. She sought the physician and could only pray that if she was dying, it would be quick. This hell was by far, too much to bear.

Sweeney took a seat in his barber chair and leaned into its backing, suppressing the urge to sigh. Mrs. Lovett had followed him into his shop and stood over him, the silence never to satisfying. Sometimes not enough words can be said to express the emotion that one had to carry every day and wake up to every morn.

"I do not understand it. She was so composed earlier today and now…she is falling apart," Mrs. Lovett noted.

Nodding his head in agreement, Sweeny added, "Lucy never used to be like that."

Stepping slightly closer to the barber, Mrs. Lovett continued. "You two have been closer, though?"

Sending her a piercing glance, Todd said, "I suppose," as he narrowed his eyes. Lovett tried to convince herself that his narrowed glance was simply from the noon sun and was not directed towards her.

Gaining courage, she advanced towards where he sat, yet again, and knelt by his side. Hesitantly, as if he were the most delicate of things, she reached her hand towards him and made her way towards his arm.

Sensing her action, Todd snatched her hand with a dismissive, "No."

His final act sent hidden sobs rippling through her body. No tears escaped her eyes, but she shook with a force that sent her into shuddering tremors.

"I love you!" She screamed into his face. "Did you ever love me back, even if that love was in its smallest degree?"

He shook his head and sat her down in his chair so that she would not fall from her spasm. "Mrs. Lovett," he explained with a sharp, though slightly compassionate, voice, "I do not think I could ever have shared the same love that you have for me. I do not know how to put this in words that could possibly show my sorrow for hurting you, but I love my wife. I would rather see myself dead than betray her trust."

And with those words, the light in Mrs. Lovett's eyes seemed to die. A single tear rolled down her cheek, displaying the immeasurable hurt that had wounded her heart. She had lost everything, and to her, everything was Sweeney Todd.

Straightening himself after his speech, Todd sent her a sort of sorrowful glance before leaving the room, only to come back up in haste.

"Where is she?"

"Who?" Mrs. Lovett asked in a dead voice.

"Lucy!"

"As if I am going to give a _SHIT_ about a woman who _stole_…"

Rolling his eyes, Sweeney slammed the door behind him, displaying a rather colorful section of vocabulary to express his displeasure. Damn woman could not shut it, could she?

With an angry growl, Sweeny left the house in search of his wife. If another one of his family members left the house without so much as a parting word, then so help him!

After a few minutes of searching, Todd came across his wife who appeared to be making her way back towards their home.

In a deadly advance, he grabbed her arm and directed her towards the house. "And just where the hell have you been?"

Avoiding his gaze, she chose to ignore the question. They both paced in treacherous silence until they were both in the warmth of their home. Mrs. Lovett had since joined Toby and Johanna at a table, all three of them sitting and explaining of their musical accomplishment.

Johanna stood upon seeing her parents burst in, placing her hands on her hips. "Do you not understand that a few moments away from you two is quite agonizing and then you both suddenly up and leave? Where have you two been?"

Taking aback by their daughter's demand, Lucy and Sweeney exchanged glances.

"I was just asking your mother the same question," Sweeney Todd mumbled to his daughter as he leaned against the pie shop's doorway.

Lucy sent the group an expressionless gaze before mindlessly approaching a counter and clearing the surface of its contents. "I was out."

The boiling point of Mr. Todd's anger had been reached. "WHY WERE YOU OUT? DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW DANGEROUS IT IS FOR YOU TO BE OUT THERE ALONE? DO YOU WANT TO BE DRUGGED AND MOLESTED AGAIN??!!"

Lucy turned towards him, not even bothering to hide the hurt in her eyes.

"I went to the doctor."

Sweeny cursed the moment the harsh words had left his lips.

Lucy took in a shaky voice and declared in a watery voice, "I am pregnant."


	28. Chapter 27

Pregnant…Lucy was pregnant.

Johanna stood silently, her hands still on her hips, though the girl was not aware of it. Sweeney Todd had staggered a few feet backwards until he was in the safety of a chair. The man's face was blank, as if he could not think or function on his own. The declaration lingered in his mind, floating over the very rim of his consciousness. The entire world fell away, all of it except for the condemning words. The words that had stripped him of any anger yet shocked him beyond credence.

Mrs. Lovett emitted a sort of groan from the back of her throat. When few gazes flew to her face, she straightened her posture and wore a thin expression, the distance between her eyebrows narrowing.

The group now embraced immobility. Johanna had since sunk into the chair next to Toby, offering a slight smile when he placed a hand over hers in an act of consolation. Sweeney now stared at his hands-his wife-his hands.

"Should not this be happy news?" Johanna exclaimed after the silence had become too much to tolerate. Not one person made an effort to answer the question the moment it had been asked.

Lucy was now standing over the counter, gripping the edges for support. Looking over her shoulder, she sought Sweeney in her glance. Her face depicted nothing short of uncertainty and fear, mingling with boundless misery. In a silent plea, she bore her gaze into her husband's bowed head, begging that he would say anything, be it intense displeasure or limitless joy.

Catching his wife's look of imploration, Mr. Todd stood and walked towards Lucy, an incomprehensible expression painted on his features.

Johanna, sensing her parent's need for momentary solitude, grasped Toby's hand and led him to the parlor once more, mentioning that they needed to sort out the lyrics to the next verse of their song. Toby had followed Johanna's lead and had requested that Mrs. Lovett sit with them. Not wanting to disappoint the boy and unwilling to leave, Mrs. Lovett let a deep breath of air through her lips as she stood and followed the children into the next room, not even bothering to conceal the pain that had came with Lucy Barker's news.

The couple was left alone. They now stood and faced each other, weary and irresolute of what was to come from the other.

Gazing into his wife's blood-shot eyes, Sweeny questioned, "Are you happy?"

Taken aback by the simplicity of the question, Lucy answered, "I think so. Are you…are you glad that we are going to bring another…child into this," Lucy sent the shop's window a cold glance, "world? Are you regretful that we spent the night together?"

"No."

Lucy sent him an inquisitive look.

"I am not afraid of bringing another child into this world. I know from past experience that this world-London- can be sick, cruel, and degrading." He lowered his voice to that of a lover's whisper, his words overflowing with compelling adoration. "Coming back here, to this place of treacherous acts and torturous memories…was one of the best things that have ever happened to me."

With a pitiful sob, Lucy clutched at her husband and settled her face against his shoulder.

"Coming back here…brought me to you. To my family, and I am grateful for that. I really am."

He tilted her chin towards his face with his hand, giving her no choice but to stare into his eyes. "We are going to raise this baby."

Guilt engulfed the woman. "And what if I am to fail as a mother once more? What if I become so horribly selfish that I decide to take my own life, just as I had done before, leaving this baby alone, just as I had done to Johanna?"

Tears spilled over and slid down her face. "What if I am too much of a coward to face the world and care for this baby? How can I raise a child when I could not even raise Johanna?"

In truth, Lucy had hit one of the nerves that had been irking Todd. He had, though he was ashamed to admit it, been quite upset with his wife over her attempted suicide, leaving Johanna to be raised by a rapist. Yet, his wife was in a helpless condition. Her innocence had been stolen quite quickly, resulting in her despair. He could not let her live with such twisted thoughts. He simply could not.

Sweeney Todd now spoke with determination. "Lucy, I understand why you had poisoned yourself. I am able to comprehend your reasons. But now we must look towards the future and try to…" Sweeney struggled against the chains of his own fears. "We have to try to forget, or at least forgive." This, for the barber, would be no easy task. Forgetting seemed an impossible act and forgiveness was not in his nature. But, at least his wife could give it a try. She held more virtue then him, though some of her virtue was tainted, yet still there.

"The very thought of you being away from me, or giving up, it makes me feel close to death. I cannot live if I do not have you swear to me, right here right now…that no matter what happens,"

Lucy grasped his hands.

"…no matter how horrible times can be,"

She wavered under an unknown force, crushed by the passion in his voice.

"…you have to promise me that you will never give up. You must swear that you will never renounce."

She let out yet another choking cry.

"Swear to me."

He grasped her arms and pierced her soul with a demanding, yet loving gaze.

"I promise, Benjamin. I will never give up."

**************************************************************************  
Victor paced inside of his small room among the mess from that his fit had created.

He had hired a prostitute the other night. She was rather pretty, with brown hair that reached the middle of her back and green eyes that held comparison with a tranquil lake. Her looks had been what he liked about her. After suggesting that he take her with him, she showed a certain uncertainty, for she was very young, but after a few encouraging remarks from the other women, she had agreed to spend the night with him.

They had spent the night under one condition, and that would be that she would be gone before sunrise. She agreed and they proceeded. Yet when he woke, the girl was sitting next to him, babbling on about love and dreams.

He had stood in a rage, called her a whore, and had began to beat the girl until she spat blood and could no longer breathe properly. Every object that was in sight had been used to beat the girl, be it a book or a candle holder; it all was hurled at her head. He told her to leave right then and there before he ended her pathetic existence and did common society a favor.

The girl had scrambled to her feet and stumbled out of the room, her cries unheeded by the man.

And now he was alone amid a terrible mess and a guiltless conscience. _He had warned her. _

Now, all that was to be left was the motivation for his madness. Benjamin Barker.

Yes, he was back, that was evident. The barber was Benjamin Barker. How he returned home in one piece no longer mattered. What mattered was the question: How does one get an escaped convict to confess of his identity?

An answer had popped into his mind immediately. It was obvious that exposing Barker to the law had done no good, but if one was to strike at a man's life, perhaps his _family_, then a confession would be the least he would do to save the ones that he cherished.

Broken glass crunched under Victor's boot as a plan formed in his mind.

Strike at the ones Barker loves and he will _be singing_ on the court stand.

Now, all that was needed was preparation.

Soon, Barker would be his.

********************************************************

**Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed these past two chapters filled with fluff, a pissed of Sweeney, singing children, a jealous Mrs. Lovett and a basket case Lucy. Not to mention an increasingly evil Victor Thorne. What will a screwed up family have to endure next? Heh, as if I'm going to tell you! No, but if you want to know, then stay tuned for the next chapter and leave a little review. Thanks! (Oh, and I'm loving the new readers! Welcome!)**


	29. Chapter 28

**If any of you have noticed, I sort have changed my description. Yes, it now says that this story is a shocking Sweenett story as well as a Sweeney Lucy couple. Never fear my dear Swucy fans! I particularly favor Swucy, but there are so many out there who love a good Sweeney Lovett pairing. So I have devised a way to please everyone. You'll just have to see… Please leave a review and tell me what you think about this little plot line, your opinions are what keep me going. Bear with me, for all will reveal itself in time. *Squeals* My Swucy and Sweenett fans to you I say ENJOY!**

_Screams…blood…anguish._

_He bolts upright in his cell, arms outstretched to the heavens, begging for the merciful end to grant him tranquility. "Just end me!" He screams to the Lord, as men heave in corners and weep of their lost chance of living._

_He truly yearns for the release. The release that would grant him eternal peace, where he could watch from above, his two golden angels live their life and grant the world a radiant piece of light that could only be cast from the purity of their deeds._

_Death had embraced any man who no longer contained strength, and mocked any man who endured suffering. _

_Clinging to the icy bars, he screams for mercy, for condemnation, for salvation between the nauseating walls of this torment. Clawing at his face, he bangs his head against stone, he tears at the rags he wears, and he weeps blood._

_In only a few months, he had lost hope. In a matter of years, he had lost his naiveté. In fifteen years, he had lost himself. And when he returned home, he had lost his mind. _

_No one was going home, and that truth flowed through the mind of every hopeless man as evenly as the crimson liquid that dripped over their ravaged faces…that dried over his murderous hands!_

Tearing his subconscious away from the horrible nightmare, Sweeney Todd woke with a pained moan. His dreams, the vivid quality…how they depicted the agony so clearly!

Groaning as he sat straight in his chair, Todd's eyes stung from sweat as it slid down the side of his face. Rubbing the wet spot with the flat of his calloused palm, Sweeney rolled out his sore muscles and concentrated on gaining his proper breathing. He gripped the handles of the barber's chair with fingers that whitened from the intense pressure. The night was filled with clouds. There was not a hint of the moon, his only consolation on these treacherous nights.

Jumping at the sound of an opening door, Sweeney nearly fell out of his chair when he saw that Johanna had entered his shop. She stood in a pale nightgown that had been slightly large on her, resulting in long sleeves and a trail at the bottom of the gown. Her hair framed her face with ghostly golden locks, blowing in a small breeze as she stepped towards her father and kneeled in front of him, not even bothering to close the door behind her.

"I heard you tossing in your sleep, screaming horrible things. I believe I have learned more about you as you slept than when you were awake," she declared, though she did not offer her usual customary smile.

He did not dare respond, for his breath was still short and quick, near hyperventilation.

Without holding the reluctance that her mother had usually shown, Johanna snatched her father's face between her hands and began to soothe him with words of benevolence and assurance.

"It's alright, father," she whispered to him. "You are home."

He nodded his head, but her words were nothing but a small ringing in the back of his screaming mind. Every single part of his body was screeching in protest as the memories raged on in his psyche, the muted bawls of pain as well as the appalling breaths of dying males.

Sweeney Todd's eyes took on different sights. He did not see the glorious girl before him, no. Instead, his mind took on images of his past, as if their only intent was to torture him with the haunting years that he had been forced to endure for the crime of being loved.

His eyes then turned to his Johanna, anger suddenly bursting from his very soul. _She had no right being with him when all he was moaning about was death and suffering! Was she trying to hurt him_? "I do not want your comfort! Get out!"

Johanna stood straight, gripping onto the thread of understanding that she held for her father. "Father," she began. "I understand you are up…"

Without thinking upon his actions, Sweeney gripped her shoulders and directed her towards the door. "I said get out!" he repeated. The full anger in his heart was now being unleashed.

Struggling, she slipped out of his grip and shoved her father backwards until he stumbled away from her. As he advanced towards her in a blind fury, Johanna let out a cry of agony, bringing him back to stunned reality. "IS THIS WHAT YOU HAVE COME TO?" she demanded.

He stopped dead in his tracks, aware of what he was doing only when he was too late.

"If I wished to be manhandled I would have asked you to bring forth Turpin from the dead so that I could live with him once more!"

"I was not thinking…"He begged. _What had he done? Had he forgotten that this was his daughter in his moment of panic?_

At this point, Lucy had emerged from her room and stood in the doorway, unnoticed by the father and daughter.

Johanna then clasped her father's face between her hands once more, commanding that he look into her eyes. "What did they do to you, father?"

"I…I cannot tell you."

"Please," she cried. "I need to know."

He swayed under her touch, alarming her to a point where she insisted that he sit down. Once he had seated, Johanna requested that he tell her of his experience in Botany Bay, only to be rejected once more.

Avoiding her gaze so that he stared at nothing but the floor, he began. "The things they did to me there…I could never tell you. Most of the things that they did were so inhuman, so cruel; they would never be imagined by a person who still held onto their sanity. They took everything that meant anything to the men." He sighed under a great stress as Johanna stroked his cheekbone.

"They took everything from me."

Displaying a sorrowful batch of tears, Johanna continued to caress her father's face until her touch receded into his wild hairline. Then, with a gentle force, she removed an object from his hand that he did not realize he was holding. His razor.

"Oh, father, you have cut yourself."

He sent his hand an uncaring glance, realizing that he indeed had been gripping the razor in his sleep, and in his woe, he had sliced open his forearm. The cut was a superficial one, none of his muscles or tendons was slit, but the long gash up his arm was now bleeding at a vigorous pace. And still, he felt no pain. It would take a plenty good deal more than a blade to hurt him.

In fear, Johanna leapt to her feet and bounded out the door, and passed her mother, who had since been detected by the girl, mentioning that she was going to get bandages.

"Was it a nightmare?" Lucy inquired her figure still in the doorway.

His mind clicked when he realized Lucy was in the room as well, but he did not look up at her just yet. It would not have mattered; the gruesome images still haunted him. "Yes…nothing more."

"Tell me."

"I could never. The memories are too despicable…too _appalling_."

Shaking her head as she moved towards him, she continued, "You know, you haven't been sleeping at all."

"It…it is because I did not sleep at prison. Sort of worked into me schedule, I assume."

Sighing in displeasure, she came up to his chair, laying a faltering hand on his shoulder. "You do not eat either."

"I try."

"I know you do. Try harder. Your body is so…" she grimaced, "Please try harder."

"I am fine," he assured her. Still, her hand rested on his shoulder, causing every nerve in his body, to wince at the contact.

Feeling the tremor beneath her hand, she asked, "Are you cold?"

He shook his head and grasped at his stinging hand. Blood was pouring onto the floor, just as it had in the very room only months before.

_The murderer that he had been…_

Johanna slipped back into the room with the bandages. Grasping his bleeding dead hand, the girl wound the wound with white cloth, the crimson spreading through the material. She continued to wrap the wound until no liquid bled through and the bandage was secured in place. With a gentle pat, she questioned, "Was the blade dirty?"

"I had just cleaned `em," he mumbled in reply.

"Of course, it's all you ever seem to be doing in your spare time."

Silence greeted her accusation. "Try to be careful, and if the wound becomes infected, I will clean it as best as I can."

"Thank you, _doctor_," he added with a twitch of the corner of his lips.

Overwhelmed by the joke, though it was small in its measure, she kissed him on the cheek and locked him in a tight embrace. "I have nightmares, too," Johanna breathed. "I understand, father."

He returned her embrace with his good arm. "Thank you, not just for the bandages."

Disinclined to let go of him, the girl uncoiled her arms from around him and left the room for a final time after gently squeezing her mother's hand.

Lucy, who had remained standing aside of the chair, wrapped him with the shawl she had been wearing. "You're freezing," she states as she pulls it tighter around his slim form.

Now, the commotion had also summoned Mrs. Lovett into the room, her eyes searching the darkness for the source of such a disturbance. "What happened here?" she asked the couple when her eyes had adjusted to the room.

"Nothing," Lucy replied in a cool tone. "You may go."

Mr. Todd flicked his gaze to his wife, almost surprised by the icy pitch of her voice. Lucy did not seem to notice his shock, for she was now glaring at Mrs. Lovett, aware that the woman was staring at her husband. How the years had truly shaped his angel. Yes, he still loved her, she was still beautiful, and she still remained his reason, yet she was not so virtuous.

"No, Lucy. I am alright now. Why don't you go back to sleep? You need your rest…you," he gulped a breath of air and released his next words through clenched teeth, "_the baby_…"

With a look of wonder, she smiled and whispered, "Thank you."

He shrugged the shawl off of his shoulders. "It was really nothing…here is you're…er…shawl," he mumbled as he returned the fabric to its rightful owner.

Clutching the material in her hands, she sneaked around Nellie and left for her room, the door shutting with a gentle creak.

"You are going to be alright, Mr. T?"

He bobbed his head up and down in answer. "Yes. You…you may sit if you wish." He stood with shaking legs and pointed to the chair, only to be turned down.

"Naw, I'm fine right here."

He shuffled his feet, causing Mrs. Lovett to choke back a giggle at his slightly childish act. Suddenly, the transformation from giddiness to pure gloom had taken place, causing the light from Mrs. Lovett's eyes to leave. "So, you two are going to have yourselves another bouncing baby?"

It took him at least a few seconds to respond. "Yes. We are."

"You must be very happy."

He sent her a look of slight confusion. "Uh, yes, I am."

She shifted her feet, taking on a comfortable position against the wall, as he leaned against the arm of his chair.

"Eleanor?"

The baker looked up, utterly shocked that he had used her actual name. "Y-yes, Mr. Todd?" she whispered in complete awe.

"What was Albert like? I cannot quite remember him that clearly."

The question had sent a jolt of pain coursing through her body, making her rigid_. What was her Albert like? He…had she even given him a second thought since the day of his passing? Had she even mourned for the loss of someone she had vowed to cherish throughout the remainder of her being? _

"He was a good man, me Albert was. Never too hard on someone unless he really had to be, he was. I do not know if our marriage was a condition or if it was solely based on the fact that we truly cared for each other."

She motioned to the walls around her. "When we moved in here, he had suggested that we begin a pie business. I have a suspicion that he made the suggestion so he could simply gorge himself without remorse." A smile played on her lips at a memory that would never be known to any other.

"We were happy together, yet our relationship seemed to be that of friendship, rather than marriage. Sometimes, he acted as if I was not even in the same room as him, causing me to brood away in me bedroom while thinking of ways to please him. Nevertheless, he was very dear to my heart, yet he never could fill it."

Bowing her head so that her face could not be read, she concluded, "And then I met you."

A small pang went off inside of Sweeney's chest. Yes, he felt somewhat, guilty about turning this devoted woman away. She really did love him, it was unmistakable. How did he feel towards her?

Golden sparks began to paint the floor as the sun poked its way through the night clouds. Morning had come, and what a night it had been.

The moment between the two had passed. Mrs. Lovett bid him goodnight, then corrected herself after realizing that the night had ended and it was sunrise. "Might as well start the day early…pies…sometimes I get so sick of `em."

Offering a small grin, he muttered, "Customers. All I wish to do is polish `em off and continue with my day."

Chuckling at the sinister joke, she descended down the stairs that led to the outside.

He adored Lucy. He worshiped the very ground that she trod upon. Yet, when it came to a good joke, Mrs. Lovett was the woman for Sweeney Todd.

Following Mrs. Lovett down the stairs, Sweeney noticed the baker talking to his daughter. She handed her a few coins and beamed when Johanna gave her a hasty hug and pulled away. The girl then walked to the street and began to make her way to the direction of St. Dunstan's market.

"You sent her to retrieve something?" Sweeney Todd questioned as he watched his daughter sauntered down the road, sending smiles to the passing strollers.

"Just some sugar, we are running low," Lovett replied as she sent him a look of benevolence. "Don't worry, Mr. T. She'll be alright. I'll even send Toby after her."

As she turned to fetch the boy, Mr. Todd continued to look ahead. Pushing away the ominous feeling of danger, Todd squinted to find his daughter as she continued to advance down the boulevard.

Little to their knowledge, a cloaked stranger sighted the blonde girl, and had begun to follow, stalking her in the concealment of the shadows.


	30. Chapter 29

**It's stalker time…**

Johanna walked across streets, passing by homeless beggars, scampering children, suspicious looking men, and of course, women dressed in clothing that suited their status. It seemed like a rather ordinary day in London. Young girls clinging to their mother's skirts, men striding in step with another, all appeared average.

The market was just past a few more streets. Johanna clasped the coins in her hands, soon becoming wet with perspiration. She switched the coins to her other hand and stepped over a protruding cobblestone.

And still he waited, and still, he followed.

The girl had come across a street filled with many beggars and dead end alleys. It was a rundown street, causing the girl to suddenly yearn for protection, even in its smallest of measures.

Unsure of the direction she should go in; Johanna began to peer into the alleyways in search of a passage that would provide as an exit from the meandering street. She came across a pathway that showed promise, seeing that there was light at the end of the street. Stepping inside, Johanna realized that it was a tunnel. The girl began to advance towards the end of the passageway, her fear slipping as she began to realize that she was close to the market.

Out of the darkness, hands sprung out and grabbed the girl, wrapping her head to the figure's chest with an arm, while the figure's other arm, wrapped her lower body to him. His arms were covered in a cloth that was as black as the darkness in which he came, the strength in them, knocking almost all of the air out of Johanna.

Before she could summon the breath to produce a scream, the person placed a mouth near her ear and began to speak in a tongue that could only be compared to a hiss. "You have not been trying hard enough."

"What," she choked, "are you…talking…about?"

"You know damn well!" he spat, forcing more pressure on her neck. "I should think that a girl who has a convict for a father would be forcing him to confess."

With one sentence, Johanna had learned the identity of her attacker. Thorne...

"I would no sooner force my father to return back to hell!"

"Why? He shall be going there anyway. A convict is a convict, girl, until their dying day, and forever as they burn in the depths of Satan's home!"

Gasping for air as the pressure on her throat continued to increase, she responded. "I know very well who my father is! He is innocent!"

Laughter erupted from his mouth, shaking the girl as she grasped at the arm around her neck. "You should do quite nicely, my dear. I think that if your father is as compassionate as you make him out to be…and if his daughter was to be in danger…he would be more than willing to confess his identity."

Sickening dread forced the girl to wheeze in despair. _The bastard was going to hold her captive until her father confessed to being the escaped Benjamin Barker!_

She made an attempt to scream which soon terminated, for he squeezed her neck in an even tighter hold to a point where speech was impossible, as well as breath. Red spots began to cloud her vision.

"Now, I am going to walk out of this tunnel and into the street. Make a scene and the gun in my pocket will be put to use. Nod your pretty little head if you understand what I am saying."

Refusing to nod her head only forced the man to grasp a fistful of yellow hair and thrust her head up and down, causing her to whimper in pain. The sound was almost as beautiful as the bells in St's church.

Light stung the girl's eyes as they approached the end of the tunnel. What he was to do with her, she did not know. Slackening his grip until they reached the end, Thorne then released the girl and walked with his hand over hers, making escape improbable.

Toby, who had been sent to go after Johanna by Sweeney Todd, was now searching the streets for her. The direction to the market was down a few roads and through a passageway. He would know. He grew up in London, painful as the memories had been.

A rundown street greeted him as he jogged down the rows of abandoned alleys and starving people. The tunnel that he had desired to find was right in his view, sending a smile to the boy's features.

As he stepped into the tunnel's entrance, the smile disappeared. He had found Johanna, yet she was not alone. A man was holding her by the neck as they walked to the end of the passageway, horror spreading through the boy as the man loosened his grip and grabbed her hand once they had exited the tunnel and thrust themselves into the whir of shoppers in the market.

Who was this man? Where was he taking Johanna?

Toby rushed forward in a sudden surge of energy, determined to save the girl from her captor by any means necessary. The two had melted in with the crowd, followed by the boy.

Pushing aside men, tripping over shoes, Toby bounded towards Johanna and walked near her so that she could see him. Johanna did not look his way at first, but after her pleading eyes had searched the crowd for someone to realize she was in distress, her eyes fell upon Toby. Hope brightened her fearful expression.

Toby shifted his position so that he was walking almost next to her, the man unsuspecting as his hand continued to grasp Johanna's.

Surprisingly, a melody began to escape Johanna's lips. Thorne had cast her series of questionable glances, but looked away after realizing that singing would not be heard or cared for in the vast crowd.

Toby listened to the tune, drinking in every word and its meaning. He realized that the song was that of _Ben Bolt_ and she had chosen a specific part to begin in.

"…_And trembled with fear at your frown."_

She is afraid, Toby thought.

"_In the old church yard in the valley, Ben Bolt, in a corner obscure and alone,"_

Toby listened even more intently as he trotted near Johanna who, in return, sent him quick glances as she sung to him.

"_They have fitted a slab of granite so gray and sweet Alice lies under the stone."_

With a short intake of breath, Toby took in the significance of the sentence. The man holding her hand was going to kill her, or at least that is what he thought.

Johanna, who had read Toby's look of understanding, repeated the words to the song for reassurance that the man holding her hand was dangerous with a murderous intention.

"_They have fitted a slab of granite so gray and sweet Alice lies under the stone."_

With a nod of his head, Toby ceased in pacing and fell back a few feet from Johanna and the man so that he was walking behind them. All he had to do now was find a way to grab Johanna.

The man had directed Johanna so that they were leaving the market, and now were pacing down a street of houses and shops, most likely to a destination where he could keep Johanna hidden. It was only a matter of time until he came across the building he was destined to. Toby grimaced, knowing that if he did not strike at that exact moment, Johanna would be lost.

Bending forward to pick up a piece of stone, he winced at the wet and cold texture of the rock. Toby held it in his hands, nearly piercing his skin with its sharp edge in anger and fortitude.

He advanced towards the man, bile rising in the back of his throat as he raised the rock in attack.

Johanna looked away, unable to look at Toby in his moment of abhorrence and sadism.

The boy sent the rock crashing into the male's leg with a cry, causing the man to scream in pain. Blood spread from the wound. Clutching at his leg, the man let out a series of curses, the injury disabling him from walking. As he sunk to the floor, Toby dropped the rock and pulled Johanna away from Thorne's grasp, sending a kick to Victor's stomach.

When Toby had finished brutally beating the man, he grasped Johanna's hand and they ran in the opposite direction, fear and pure adrenaline increasing their stamina.

Victor Thorne had managed to limp his way to his feet, now standing with blood running down his leg and wheezing breaths.

"YOU THINK YOU HAVE WON?!" he shouted after them, causing people to stop in their movements and stare at the shouting mad man. "I WILL GET YOU ALL, YOU SNIFFELING BRATS! I WILL GLADY ENJOY SINKING MY BULLETS INTO EACH AND EVERY ONE Of YOUR PATHETIC FACES! GIVE YOUR CONVICT BARBER THE MESSAGE!"

Johanna's tears of terror blurred her eyes as the man's final words wrapped around the girl, enveloping her in dismay. Toby had refused to release her hand until they burst through the door of Mrs. Lovett's pie shop, Johanna crying and gasping, Toby breathing in hard, short, and labored, breaths.

Sweeney, Lucy, and Mrs. Lovett, who were standing by a table of customers and asking if they needed any other service, Sweeney's barbering skills or Lovett's pies, looked up at the children who had just entered their shop, causing everyone to freeze in their movements and observe the hyperventilating adolescents.

"What happened to you two?" a woman, who had been nibbling on a pie, asked as she straightened upward and sent them a curious look.

The barber and his wife flew towards Johanna as the Baker lunged at Toby, all of them demanding where they had been and why they were breathing so hard.

"What happened? Why is your neck red?" Sweeney questioned as he grasped Johanna's arms. The girl sent him a weary glance, her head rolling about, and her body wavering.

"Toby, can you hear me, darling?" Mrs. Lovett asked. Toby now stood, his face frozen with rage.

In a jumble of congregated words, Johanna and Toby told of what happened, causing the adults to look towards each other in confusion.

"All I got out of that was a tunnel and _Ben Bolt_," Mrs. Lovett concluded in a baffled tone. "Did you at least get the sugar I asked for?"

Sighing sharply, Johanna gave Toby an exhausted glance, imploring him to explain what had exactly happened.

Toby told of their tale, not even bothering to cast anyone a glance as he explained. "I went after Johanna like you told me to. I saw her being held by a man who was wearing nothing but black. As I followed them, Johanna tried to warn me of her fate by singing a song. I understood that this man…wanted to kill her, I think. So I ran towards him with a rock, hit him in the leg, beat the _shit_ out of the _scum_ and ran with Johanna back here." He concluded with a hard glance at Johanna. "I don't know what he did to her before that, though."

Mrs. Lovett cringed at Toby's explicit choice of wording towards the end of his story, but chose to ignore the fact seeing that he had just escaped a kidnapper.

Lucy grasped Toby's hand. "You saved her, Toby. We," she glanced at her husband, "owe you so much for this."

Toby removed his hand from Lucy's after a thoughtful moment. He then walked towards Johanna and pulled her away from her father, ignoring the foreboding look Todd sent him, and led her into the solitude of the parlor, followed by the adults who had excused themselves from their customers for the moment.

The girl was still trembling from the impact of such a traumatizing experience, as Toby gently settled her in a chair. "What happened before I came?" the boy asked in a voice that belonged to that of a world fatigued man.

Todd knelt down to his daughter's level as the women crowded around Johanna's chair.

"I swear if that son of a bitch touched you in any way…" Todd nearly shouted.

"He did not do those things like those men in the alley," Johanna assured her father, though her voice did not bring the barber any comfort.

"It was that man, Mr. Thorne. He…he grabbed me on the way to the market and he…gripped my neck. I could not scream. He told me that I had not done my job in convincing my father to confess to the law, so he said that he was going to hold me captive until my father did confess in order to assure my well being."

Sweeney Todd sighed, as if he expected to hear the words Johanna had spoken. "Thank you, boy," he mumbled to Toby who nodded in return. Mr. Todd knew that if it were not for him, his daughter would be locked away and subjected to torture until a confession was made.

"And," Johanna began in a voice that quaked with absolute revulsion, fear. "He said that he would find us all. He said to give you a message." She took a deep gulp of air for stability. "Mr. Thorne wants you to know that when he has us, he will enjoy sinking bullets into each and every one of our heads."

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**Terrriiifffffiiiiiiic. Todd goes from the hunter to the hunted. Or so you think…**

**Review or Victor Thorne will come after YOU! (I'm not setting Sweeney after you because I know all of you would enjoy that too much!)**

**Love to all reviewers new and old. **


	31. Chapter 30

The words that had slipped out of Johanna's mouth seemed to send everyone into a sort of daze.

Lucy had instinctively placed a hand on her stomach, fear written in her gaze for her unborn baby. She then forced a reassuring smile at her daughter and held the girl's hand in hers, stroking it with gentle strides of affection and consolation while muttering, "It's alright, darling. You are home, now."

Toby sat still, quiet.

Mrs. Lovett had placed a finger on each of her temples, mumbling uncomprehending words of aggravation. She did not seem afraid; the expression she wore was that of pure annoyance at the threat. "Bring him here," she mumbled. "See just what happens, Mr. Thorne!" With an angry huff, she grasped Toby's arm and brought him outside to assist the demand of their patrons.

"Why?" Johanna cried in a voice barely above a whisper, her pitch suddenly rising to that of a despairing screech moist with tears. "How can a man who simply guarded the same jail you were in…how does he hold such hatred for one man? What have you done wrong, father?"

Sweeney grimaced and shook his head.

"NO! I cannot stand anymore of these secrets." Johanna rose, stumbling so that her father had to catch her in his arms before she fell. After setting the girl down, Johanna continued to sob and clutch at her father, the questions raining down on him without end. "Who is he? Who are you?"

"He was my-Benjamin Barker's- personal guard. He guarded my section and he was in charge of my…punishments…my _tortures_."

Johanna brought hand down onto her father's cheek and let it rest there, her eyes red with pity.

"That is why he wants to hurt you all…he wants to get to me," he declared brokenly. The thought of his wife in danger, his daughter, and his angels in pain…he could no longer live if it were not for them. He found it shocking that he had managed to actually do so for such a long period of time, but revenge can drive a soul to madness beyond the ordinary.

Sweeney Todd sent his wife a blank gaze and then his daughter. He comforted only Johanna at that moment, stroking her hair and promising her that the man would never hurt her again. Though his motives were for the better good, Mr. Todd was never the one to hold up such compassionate affections for too long a time. After a brief moment of soothing the girl, he stood straight, wincing at the slight pain he felt as he did so. The way his family looked at him fed the hunger for revenge that he had so desperately tried to push away.

He had promised Lucy he would never kill again. He had promised…

A growl emitted from the back of Todd's throat as he pushed passed the terror stricken females and thrust his consciousness into a world of commanding customers and taunting shaves. Men so easily leaned back into his chair, unsuspecting that many times the very chair in which they lounged was once covered in the blood of the innocents of London. Though many may not have been innocent for the worlds was a dark place…

The day dragged on well into the night. It was with great pleasure that the baker put down her rolling pin and Todd his razor, at least_, _he _almost_ put it away, for the holster he wore now held the razor, serving as protection, even though the barber was sure that his murderous skills were quite out of practice.

Toby decided to stare at the vacant ceiling rather than let sleep come to him. The day had been so exhausting, yet the boy blankly studied the roof, wondering why the ceiling was not covered in blood when the entire world seemed to be. The entire world was defiled except the purity of Johanna…No blood stained her hands…

Lucy had assisted Johanna to her room, lying her down on the bed with a gentle smile. Sweeney had entered after his wife, scowling at his daughter's condition.

"What happens when that man keeps his promise?" Johanna had rasped out due to her sore throat, her blue eyes wide with damned curiosity.

"He won't," Todd hissed as he gripped the holster which held his prized possession.

Lucy sighed and brushed a piece of hair from Johanna's eyes. "Your father would never allow it. I would not allow it either."

Johanna closed her eyes for a moment, and then opened them slowly. "I am worried about what would happen when Mr. Thorne makes another attempt to do something horrid, but I am more concerned about the actions that you, father, will take to ensure our safety."

"I will do whatever I have to do," he snapped as he gave his daughter a quick glance. Realizing that he had clearly lost his temper, he brought his tone down and shut his eyes while producing a gentle, "I am sorry." He lids opened once more and he averted the small glances that his wife gave him, almost like a small child avoiding the gaze of a punitive teacher after he had spoken out of place.

Feeling absolutely powerless, Lucy gave her daughter a small peck on her cheek and one last smile, though it was observably forced, holding comfort, but not quite enough to ensure the girl's sleep for that night.

Lucy then scurried out of the room and into her own followed by her husband who too, felt utterly helpless. She turned to him and opened her mouth, as if she were to say something, snapped her jaw shut, slumped down on the bed, and pressed her face in her hands.

"What is he going to do next?" came the tortured question.

"I…don't know, but he is not going to sink any bullets into any of my family member's heads," he seethed as he leaned backwards into the support of a wall and brought the razor out of its hold, the moonlight delicately glinting off of its surface. "Not _my_ family."

With a deplorable look, Lucy grasped her stomach while inquiring, "How are we to raise a child in this world?"

In a blunt tone, Todd answered, "We will," as his attention focused mainly on the metal shining in his hand.

Mrs. Barker stood and shuffled over to her husband, gazing at his face as he gawked at the razor with a horrendous smile on his face. Sweeney Todd let the light of it glint in his eyes, increasing his likeliness to a demon more than he ever had done before.

Benjamin Barker then noticed his wife standing by his side and turned his head to stare at her face, gazing at the paleness of her complexion and the complexity of her eyes. He pocketed the razor without so much as a glance away from his beloved's eyes, and within his own eyes, he too held depth and meaning. Assessing her with the eyes that she swore had lightened with adoration; he dared not make any attempts to touch her. Instead, he studied her with a look that could only be compared to a martyr worshiping and savoring his sacred goddess before his dying breath was drawn, a blind man seeing the outside world and trembling in its beauty for the very first time…

The look was that of admiration, of whole and complete devotion and sacrifice. The eyes were that of her Benjamin's and the profundity of his single gaze was enough to make her knees shake and her eyes moist. It filled every inch of her body with love, hope, and fear.

"Benjamin?" she whispered, realizing that this was the man that she had married, standing before her in both the flesh and blood.

In an instant, the glorious spell that had wound around them vanished. His eyes darkened as did his face, his body turning away from hers. They stood in silence, his body facing the wall as her head hung low by his shoulder, and her figure slouched with hopelessness.

"Good-night, Lucy," he said softly as he left her in the room alone. The misery in those few words shattered her heart just as a piece of glass would against a hard stone floor. Only her glass heart was being trudged on by the harsh reality. Benjamin Barker was within her husband, but Sweeney Todd would not allow himself to accept it, but she could see, with painful accuracy, that her husband did miss Benjamin Barker. She longed for him as well.

In his shop alone, Sweeney Todd stared into the mirror that was propped up against a wall. Peering at the reflection of himself, Sweeney asked, "What can I do to protect them? How can I satisfy my hunger to kill _him_ and keep my promise to my wife…HOW?" HE gripped the edges of the mirror, ignoring the agonizing pain that shot up his arms from the cuts that his razor had inserted. "Tell me, Barker, tell me what I should do!!"

Benjamin Barker remained silent, infuriating the barber. He panted from the intensity of his speech; waiting for an answer that he felt would never come to him.

Then, in the midst of the silence, Barker whispered, "Protect them. Your family is the reason you indulged in your murderous rampage. Protect them…and yourself."

Sweeney drank in the words, unfeeling, until Benjamin sent dim thoughts of Lucy and Johanna as the man's only sentiment.

And then Benjamin left Sweeney Todd with certainty as his only partner…Certainty that he would find Thorne and kill him and certainty that his former, glorious, blissful self was to never return again.

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Thorne let out yet another curse as he swiped away the blood that had crusted the lower half of his leg. It had been infected from the dirt on the rock that the boy had so viciously thrust into his leg. Alcohol burned the swollen edges of his skin, stinging as it seeped into his cracked flesh and slit skin.

He blamed it all on lack of plan.

He should have not tried to kidnap the girl. To hold her against her will would be too merciful. Now that his shameful attempt had been so fruitless, Victor Thorne decided to take on a more drastic action. If a message were to truly be sent to the convict, then someone would have to die.

It was as simple as that.

He would wait and make them believe that they were safe, and once the fools were convinced, he would strike. No doubt, a murder would have the barber begging to be led back in chains for the sake of anyone else he cared for.

His leg had stung again, but the pain was almost laughable. To imagine the horrified look of Barker as he gazed upon the crumpled figure of the woman who could only be his wife, or to stare, horrified, at the torn and bleeding girl that had been revealed to be his daughter. It was a sight that Thorne yearned to see.

Yes, a murder would be very persuasive…A painful kill, even more so.

Now, all that was needed was patience, a plan, a victim, and plenty of more alcohol.

Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. Time flew as fast as the speed of a bird and as swift as the brush of its wing. Nine months had passed, nearly a year, and still, things had remained still, like an eerie calm that never seemed to cease.

In nine months, the families had gained hope that their tortures would cease, that there hell had ended and they could breathe the air of freedom. And after these nine months, miracles and travesties would occur, blessing and cursing the fates that had been bestowed upon each, innocent and experienced alike.

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***Jaws theme begins* so…Victor Thorne has set his sights on murder…*continues* there is both nervous breakdowns and violence *continues* AND SOMEONE WILL DIE!!**

**(Here is a big hug to all of my reviewers and readers! Thanks!) **

**And since I am a sucker for wise sayings, I am going to give you one for the next few chapters that I made up.**

_**When the despairing grip of death had its icy clutches on his next victim, remember that with death, comes life. **_


	32. Chapter 31

How hard it was to live the life of a free man under the hand of fear that that freedom could be stripped and the family you had loved so fervently, destroyed. Sweeney Todd felt that fear, and because of it, he was more protective over his wife and child than he had ever been. None of them were allowed to venture outside without an escort, nor were they allowed close contact with strangers.

Tensions were high, only partly because of Todd's overprotection, but mostly because not one person had an inkling of when Thorne was going to strike at the family again, and exactly how hard that attack was going to be.

Mr. Todd had considered the idea searching for Thorne and to kill him when found, but the thought of leaving his family alone and without protection made him reconsider. Todd decided to wait for Mr. Thorne to come to him, and when he did…a life would be taken.

His lust for revenge would not be silenced.

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Lucy slumped in a chair and rolled her shoulders to relieve the stress that the months had placed on her. She sighed as she felt the knots in her back loosen and her shoulders slacken. Her stomach was now enlarged with her unborn child, the extra weight adding pressure to her legs and feet. Her ankles began to swell and she needed her husband to assist her when she walked, for such weight made her knees buckle and her legs wobble.

Sweeney walked into the room, his eyes assessing the woman to see if she were in a stable condition. She cast him a small smile and closed her eyes, nearly jumping in sudden surprise at the feel of warm skin pressed against her cheek. Lucy's eyes popped open to see her husband standing over her with his hand curled so that the tips of his fingers were pressed against her skin, caressing it with a loving stroke.

In a quick movement, she turned her head to the side and placed a gentle kiss on his forefinger, beaming due to his gentle chuckle.

The months had granted him a sort of tranquility. Yes, his thoughts for revenge remained, but they were not as strong as the desires he had held when his family was nothing but a merciful dream.

A sharp gasp of pain from Lucy interrupted their tender moment. Mr. Todd fell to his knees and held his wife in a demanding glare. "What's wrong?" he asked in a serious voice, almost fearful. He grasped her hand with his own and awaited an answer.

Following her breath of pain and her husband's concern, a joyful laugh escaped from the woman. Her laughter increased at the baffled complexion of Sweeney Todd as she clutched his hands. "It's a good thing, dearest. A good thing…"

She sent his hand over her stomach, allowing him to understand the reasons for her pain. He raised the corner of his lip as she moved his hand over the area where the baby had inserted a kick to her womb.

"What," he paused, "do you suppose the baby will be?"

Lucy gazed down as her face flushed, almost as if she were in embarrassment. "I am uncertain myself," she giggled. "It could be a baby boy."

Sweeney shook his head, sending fear to the woman that the idea of having a son was not appealing to her husband. _What would he do if they did have a son? Would he be displeased? _

"Such a sharp kick could only belong to a girl," he replied with a grin.

The joke's simplicity was enough to send a large smile to Lucy's face and a ringing laugh that brightened her features. She held no other comparison to anything but the splendor of the sun.

"Did you hear that, baby?" Lucy cooed to her stomach. "Your father believes you are going to be a girl, like your sister."

Sweeney Todd could not help but adore the way his wife spoke to their unborn infant. She had done the same when she was pregnant with Johanna. And that was many years ago…

Her features suddenly became blank. Gazing downward, she grasped at her stomach. "Love," she said in a shaking voice. "I do not…feel quite right."

He too, gazed downward and then back to her face.

"What is," she shuddered, "…What is happening?"

"I don't know," came the panicked reply. Sweeney leapt to his feet and left the room. In a matter of moments, he returned with Mrs. Lovett and pointed at his wife.

Mrs. Lovett calmed him down with a gentle touch of his shoulder and a steadying glance. Then, she rushed over to the blonde in the chair and offered her a reassuring glance. "Now, dear, let's see what's going on here," the baker said as she knelt down and grasped the woman's shoulders. "Thank the good lord we close on the weekends now, or I would not have been able to help you, now would I?" said the woman as she inspected Mrs. Barker.

Mrs. Lovett's eyes froze. Her movements froze, her breathing froze. She stood still, a statue of shock.

"What is it?" Todd demanded.

Mrs. Lovett stood and grasped the barber's hand. "You might want to get the doctor."

Sweeney scrutinized her face and then his wife's. "What is wrong with her, Lovett?"

"Get the doctor, Mr. Todd! Do you want your wife to have her child alone?"

He stood silently for a moment, as if he was contemplating the fact that his wife was about to have a child. "Oh," he said simply. He gave his wife a dazed expression.

Reality then hit him, full force, in the head. Staggering backward, Sweeney placed a hand to his forehead and let out a hiss of air. "OH!" he shouted at the realism of the situation.

"GO, YOU BLEEDING FOOL!" Mrs. Lovett shrieked as Lucy clutched at her sides with hard and deep breaths, growing with panic.

Sweeney Todd stumbled to the door while muttering under his breath, "Son of a bitch!" Groping for the handle of the door, Todd finally thrust the door open and bolted outside of the doorway and into the afternoon air.

"I need a damn doctor!"

Pushing aside any obstacle in his way, the demonic barber ran through the streets. As soon as he reached the doctor's home, he knocked upon the wood of the door, pushed his hands into his pockets and stood impatiently.

The doctor was the same that they had called upon for Lucy when she was ill from the harsh life on the streets. He stepped outside with a kind expression, his hands folded. "What can I do for you, good sir?"

"My wife," Todd panted from running, "she is in labor."

"Oh, well I am a trained accoucheur."

Todd gave him a tired glance. "You are a what?"

"I deliver children, sir. An accoucheur…"

Biting back the urge to shout, Sweeney seethed, "That is truly wonderful. Would you be kind enough to return to my home and help my wife with your service?"

The accoucheur frowned at the malice in the man's words. "Very well, do you own a woman's shift, a cot, the strength for a long day?"

Sweeney Todd gazed about him in an anxious matter. "Yes, yes, I do."

"Wonderful! Then, we shall see to your wife!"

"Thank you," Todd growled as he turned on his heel and bounded towards his home with the doctor trailing behind him.

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Sweeney Todd sat with Johanna at his side, both of them staring intently at the floor. Toby stood a few inches away from the pair, his young eyes staring into the parlor room's fire. Every so often, his gaze would dart to Johanna's face with concern, and then plunge into the intensity of the fire's flame. Johanna had involuntarily grasped her father's arm and steadied her breathing with large effort to control herself. There was an eerie silence in the room, almost panicked. Not one person knew what was happening or what fate had in store.

Mrs. Lovett had stayed with Lucy and the doctor, requesting that she help with the child delivery because she would never be able to have one of her own. When she asked for Lucy's permission, the panting woman nodded her head with tears flowing down her face, partially because of the pain of birth and the pain of pity.

Lucy had been placed into a shift, which was a loose dress that hung over her shoulders for the sake of childbirth. They moved the cot from the shop and into their bedroom, placing it in the center of the room. Lucy was placed on the cot with a few pillows propped up against her back for her support and comfort.

Todd had leaned over his wife after he was told to leave the room for the sake of the delivery, and grasped the hand of his wife. With a gentle kiss, he parted from his wife, glancing backward at the woman he treasured beyond life itself, before he departed and sat in the parlor with his daughter and waited to learn of the fate of his wife and newborn.

And now he sat, waiting for his damnation of seemingly eternal silence to end.

Mrs. Lovett would occasionally poke her head in the doorway and inform the group of the birthing process.

"Contractions," she would say. "She is doing well."

Then, Mrs. Lovett's visits became lesser and lesser until she came no more.

Many minutes they waited and still, there was nothing.

Hours flew by without end.

Time no longer had limits.

There was nothing but to wait.

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**Yes, this could be possibly the worst cliffhanger that I have ever left you guys with and there are definitely more to come. My apologies, but I would love to hear what you guys think! Thank you so much for reviewing too! Keep them coming! Next chapter, you will know of the fate of Lucy, the baby, and a very tired baby daddy! **

**-Lovebug**


	33. Chapter 32

_Benjamin stares into the ship's mirror, realizing that he no longer lived. With a cry of anguish, he embraces the man whom had led him through his hell with promises of liberation and justice. The man holds him in return, his voice soft as a whispering wind, with a meaning that held the eternal doom of vengeance. "You are dead, Barker," Sweeney Todd declares as Benjamin pulls away from the ghastly man and sinks to the floor with his hands over his face. "You are dead."_

Sweeney Todd lifted his head from his open palms, shuddering at the haunting image that he had just witnessed. He was not asleep, or was he? Nothing was for certain any longer. As he sat, waiting for an absolution of his wife's welfare, he was mentally tormented with his past, fear feeding his anxiety.

Johanna had taken a moment to sit next to Toby and clasp her lean hand with his. She sent her father a concerned glance upon hearing the trembling in his breath. Her father shied away from her glance and sent the dying parlor fire, yet another yawning glance. Johanna followed his gaze, flicking her eyes from the consuming flames to her dear friend's face. Their eyes met. Toby was the first to gaze at their entwined hands and blush, his eyelashes brushing against the skin of his cheek as he did so. Johanna did not seem to take time to be embarrassed, for she only had stamina to worry of her mother who was still upstairs, and to her knowledge, delivering the girl's next sibling. It was so quiet up there, there had only been a few screams from the upstairs room, and then…nothing.

"Do," the girl began in a fatigued tone, "you suppose she is alright. We have not heard from Mrs. Lovett or anyone in hours."

Sweeney cast his glance to the window, his eyebrows rising in shock upon realization of the nighttime. It seemed days ago he was knocking of the door of the midwife, seething in anger as the man stalled his time with silly questions.

"I…do not know," he replied in a manner that depicted his daughter's.

The room was entangled with a stillness that was enough to make the barber's ears bleed.

Footsteps sent jolts through every occupant of the room. They grew from slightly faint to clear with strength. The figure in the doorway was that of Mrs. Lovett. Her face was pale and wrought with exhaustion, but the smile that she wore sent hope piercing through all barriers of fear and apprehension.

"Come, Mr. Todd," she said quietly with that same smile playing on her lips. "I'll be right back for you both," she directed towards Toby and Johanna as Sweeney hobbled to his feet. The hours of stress had been a laden on his body, his face twitching from the pain that coursed through every inch of his structure.

The baker walked towards him and grasped his arm for support. She eyed his body with unease and led him towards the stairs that were near the parlor's entryway. He could not find the words to express his questionable mind, he could only gaze at the looming stairs with a pleading glance and breathe in a quick puff of air for support. Stairs had never been so portentous.

"Do not be so nervous, love," Mrs. Lovett consoled him with a gleam in her eyes. "Your Lucy did splendidly. Just you wait, Mr. T. You'll be so proud."

They now stood at the top of the steps and in front of the closed door to the room where his Lucy lay.

"Courage, dearie," she muttered as she turned to him with a flourish of her hand to his arm. She then pushed the door open and grasped his hand with her own. At first, the contact between the two seemed to be the only thing that existed, but the sight of the doctor before his eyes brought Todd back into his anxious world.

The doctor sent the man a smile and stepped outside, closing the door behind him. For a faint moment, Sweeney could swear he saw his wife lying on the cot with a brilliant smile adorning her pale face. The wooden door cut off his vision, forcing him to make eye contact with the obstetrician.

The barber then noticed the small bundle he held in his arms.

Nellie let out a giggle from the back of her throat. "Take your baby, Mr. T!"

He shook his head. With a trembling shake he raised his arms and placed them back at his sides, clenching his fists. "I…don't want to drop the baby," he admitted, ashamed. "I…think I am…_shaking_…far too much."

Eleanor sighed at his unease and took the bundle from the doctor. Before Eleanor could present the man's newborn child, the doctor spoke. "Your wife is in very fragile state as of now, but it was a rather magnificent delivery. I took the liberty of washing the child and attending to the woman. She should remain in bed for many weeks in order to grant her a restoration of strength. You need not worry, though, for you have a healthy baby girl, sir."

"We will pay you for your work," Mrs. Lovett assured him.

The doctor thanked her and returned inside of the room, closing the door behind him gently.

A gentle babble was produced from the lump of blankets in the woman's arms.

"Come here. It's alright, she's a real beauty," Nellie whispered as she held the baby towards him.

The first impression of his child sent a jolt of shock through his already tensed body. He had expected a blonde baby, perhaps like Johanna. But this baby, appeared different. The baby held a striking resemblance to none other than her father. The fussing girl had deep brown eyes, brunette hair, and a pale complexion. Her milky skin seemed to be taken from her mother, as well as her chin structure, yet every other feature seemed to express Sweeney Todd. If the man looked close enough, he could swear that the eyes belonging to his newborn daughter were that of Benjamin Barker's. Her innocent eyes brought him back to his memories, when he had looked at his reflection with pride and ease. Those eyes sent warmth through his body, and slowly, he regained confidence.

"I believe…I can hold her now," he managed to rasp out as he outstretched his arms towards the child. With a grin, Mrs. Lovett handed the man his newborn and took a step back to allow the father a moment with his infant.

The child barely held any weight against his arms. After fifteen years of shoveling dirt and dragging heavy objects, this child was like a pillow against his chest. Her curious gaze settled on his hard face which had suddenly softened with tenderness. As if to see if the man before her were real, the child lifted her hand and placed it upon his brood chest with a soft tap. He let out a low chuckle at her innocent gaze and lifted his arm up to caress the smooth skin of her face. She grasped the finger's in which he had applied the loving stroke, and held them in a loose grip. Her young fingers lost their hold on his and her arms tumbled against her chest. She still gazed at her father without a single glance toward any other. A soft gurgle escaped her tiny lips, and her eyes widened as if she were surprised that she had the ability to create such a sound.

Mrs. Lovett slipped away from the two and crept down the stairs to fetch Johanna and Toby, who bolted upright upon hearing the news. Johanna rushed past Mrs. Lovett and nimbly ascended the stairs, pausing for a breath as soon as she had ceased her climbing. Her eyes caught sight of the solitary figure that belonged to her father. Her movements light, Johanna made her way to Sweeney, attempting a leisure walk when all she wanted to do was dance for joy and swing her new baby sister in a loving embrace.

Her father's head shot up the moment he heard a floorboard creak under Johanna's foot, his face holding alarm. He soon relaxed again and made his way over to his grown daughter. A memory soon crept over him. He had once done this with Johanna. He had held his baby girl and felt a strong sense of protection embrace his soul. Now, as he stood holding the nameless child, he felt an even more powerful urge to defend and protect his young daughter from the cruelty of the world. _Perhaps he would not feel a complete failure to Johanna if he could save one of his children from a cruel and degrading life. _

And before the child had even been named, Sweeney Todd had vowed to shield and care for the girl until his dying day.

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***Bursts into tears* **

**I can't talk right now. Too much…LOVE!**

***continues to sob uncontrollably***

**Review!**


	34. Chapter 33

Sweeney Todd entered the room of his wife after the doctor had taken his leave. The barber still held his newborn daughter as he knelt down towards Lucy. He then deposited the child in her arms, admiring the smile she bestowed upon her young.

Lucy's face was wet with perspiration and pale with exhaustion. She barely had the strength to sit straight, yet the sight of her husband seemed to grant her a spurt of vigor, for she sat upward and managed to hold her daughter close to her breast.

"She holds such comparison to you, dear," Lucy sighed in awe as she gazed at the baby's still face. She had fallen asleep in her father's arms and now lay sprawled against her mother's chest, peaceful as ever. "What shall we name her?"

Todd admired the small face of his daughter before turning to his wife. "I do not know," he admitted with a shake of his head. "Do you have anyone in particular that you wish to name her after?"

Lucy cast the baby a single glance as she replied, "I am not sure."

As he observed the loving exchange between the mother and her child, he said, "I will leave you two alone for a while. Perhaps by the time I return, you will have a name in mind." Sweeney crossed over to the door of the room. "I am afraid my mind is not working to the best of its capability as of now." He then stepped out of the room and gently closed the door, leaning his head against its wooden frame.

"Is mother alright?"

The male nearly jumped a foot in the air at the sudden sound of his daughter's voice. He bolted from his slanted position and muttered, "She is fine. Would you like to see her?"

The girl eagerly nodded her head and pushed the wood of the door open, shutting it behind her for an intimate moment between her sister and mother. Sweeney stood outside in the hall, his mind suddenly wondering where Mrs. Lovett had gone.

He descended down the stairs and after a few glances in entryways, he found her sitting at one of her shop's tables, her head in her hands. Her light skin seemed to shine in the moonlight that was cast into the room through the glass windows. If she heard him enter the shop, she made no effort to look up at him, or even acknowledge his arrival. She kept her head bent, a sorrowful position for a woman that Todd had considered to be a woman of such pride and potency.

"I want to thank you, Mrs. Lovett…for all that you have done for us," he said in a steady tone to her still figure.

Only then did she straighten and send him a distressed glance, barely hidden by a watery smile. "It was a pleasure, love," she answered in a broken voice laden with misery.

"Then," he said as he walked over to her, "why do you appear so upset?"

It appeared that she had been slightly grateful that he had noticed her negative attitude. "All I ever wanted was a kid of me own, I suppose. I am happy you two have got another, but…" her voice faltered.

Mr. Todd chose to keep silent.

"I have never seen you so affectionate, Mr. T.," she added to him, though it seemed as if she were saying the words to herself, almost as if she were in shock. "It was a whole different you, I'll have to admit."

Once more, he said nothing. There were so many words in the world, yet none could describe the emotions and thoughts of Sweeney Todd at that exact moment. He wore a blank expression.

Mrs. Lovett took the time to study the man before her. _She had never seen him so…_tame_!_

Seizing the opportunity his passive attitude had given her, the baker stood and placed herself in from of his slim figure. No thoughts of right or wrong took place inside of her mind. Her conscience was absolutely gagged. The only thing she wanted was to give into her wants…her desires.

_She loved him!_

With a swift sweep of her arms, she placed her lips upon his and kissed him. Only she did not pull away.

Suddenly, she felt him strain away from her lips. In a moment of panic, she grasped the back of his shoulders and held him to her, in an attempt to keep him from breaking the embrace. She then thrust herself into a deeper kiss.

He would not have it.

All restraint that the man had felt had vanished. In one single movement, he took her by the wrists and shoved her away from him. As he did so, she stumbled backwards and her body slapped the hard surface of her shop's wall. Her legs gave out and she sank to her knees after the impact.

The shock of the blow had left her dazed and confused. She looked at him questioningly before reality came to her with enough force to leave her gasping for air. _She had tried to kiss him! What had she done?_

Her words came out in gasps as she tried in vain to make an apology for her vile actions. To her dismay, he would not hear a word that escaped her lips.

"Have you lost your blinking mind?" he hissed with a menacing step towards her. Grasping her by her arm, he lifted her to her feet and brought her over to a chair in which he gave her a forceful shove. She landed on the seat with a sharp intake of breath. He leaned over her slumped figure with a furious gaze.

"I not only have been reunited with my family, but I am a newborn's father once more, and you find that this is your opportunity to pursue your vulgar desires? Have you completely forgotten your husband, Albert? Don't you think he is rolling in his grave right now?" He leaned in even closer. "I do not love you! I have told you time and time again, I have not nor will I ever love you!"

She bit her lip to stifle a cry of anguish from the harsh intensity of his words. "I am sorry," she whispered.

"No you are not! You will do it again, and I am sure of it! Telling you to stay away just does not seem to take any affect!" he bellowed. He backed away as words built up in his throat, screaming for release. He could no longer hold it in. "I HATE YOU!!"

Mrs. Lovett felt her soul wither up and die within her body. Eleanor stared at him, allowing the words he had shouted at her to play back in her mind, over and over again until she began to cease in her breathing. She felt as if her chest had been cut open and now this cruel man was ripping out her heart and allowing it to bleed in his hand. The words circled her in a hopeless circle of despair, entangling her in their spiteful web. She had been hopelessly in love with him and now, he had killed her. The hateful words had condemned her. Now, life had no meaning.

She lifted herself out of her seat, an odd sort of calm numbing the pain the barber had bestowed upon her. The woman held herself upright with a broken confidence, a shattered pride.

"I hate you too," she breathed in a pained voice. Never had she dreamed she would say these words to the man she had cherished for so many years.

Eleanor backed away so that she held the knob of her shop's door in her hand. The door creaked open, an ominous goodbye.

"I hate you too," she repeated as she closed the door behind her without even a backward glance. The figure of the woman soon faded as the barber stared through the glass. He had not the slightest idea where she was going, and it would have been an utter lie to say that he did not care.

He did not sleep that night. All joy of having a child had been drained, all accusations of the woman had ceased. Concern was his only partner, and it was hell when he had to face it.

The morning came and she still had not returned.

Toby and Johanna stumbled down the stairs, laughing with joy, a small comfort to the barber. But their happy faces soon faded to unease when they become conscious of the fact that their loving Mrs. Lovett was not present. Johanna told her mother of the woman's disappearance, leaving Lucy staring out of her bedroom window in trepidation.

Sweeney Todd closed both shops, angering many of the customers who had been looking forward to a sweet pie and a good shave. Their complaints were but a buzz in the back of Todd's brain. Mrs. Lovett was still missing.

_She will come back_; he assured himself as he looked out of his shop room and stared intently at the strollers, hoping that one of them would be Eleanor Lovett. None of them were.

The hours of the day were wasted on helpless denials and pointless pacing. Sweeney Todd studied every passing figure in the street below and swore under his breath when none of them were the missing baker_._

_He had to find her. She should have come back by now._

Sweeney grasped the razor in its holster as he entered the bedroom in which Lucy lay. Johanna had placed her new baby sister in her old crib and moved the baby's bed near the mother. Lucy now lay, rocking the bed with her arm and humming a faint tune which ceased the moment her husband strode up to her bed and said, "I must look for her."

Lucy gave him a complex frown. "Nellie?"

"Yes. She has not come back and…London is quite dangerous…" he explained in a dark tone as he tightened his grip on the razor's hold and clenched his fist.

"She will be back. Stay with me…our baby. I do not want you to leave us."

He gave a curt shake of his head. "I am sorry, Lucy. I cannot…"

"Please," Lucy began to implore. "She will come back! You do not know what is out there!" She threw her arm towards the window as if she were to display the world for him to see. "Do not make your new baby daughter fatherless!"

"I know very well what is out there! I have seen the world and I know of its cruelties." he bellowed as he ran towards the door. "And I am a part of it."

Lucy's eyes watered with fresh tears. "No you are not."

He opened the door and spared her a pitying glance. "I am not a killer. But I have killed. Nothing can change that." He added, "It was all for love then, and it shall be for love now. I swear I will be back for you, Lucy. I swear it."

He bolted out of the door and rushed down the stairs, skipping many in his attempt to make it outside.

Johanna stood in front of her father before he could make it to the front door.

"No," she said in a commanding tone. "I will not let you. You will get hurt. If anyone has got Mrs. Lovett…it is probably Thorne. It is all a trap!"

He knew this all too well. Everyone did.

"I will be back," he promised as he grasped his daughter's face and placed a kiss on each side of her cheeks. "I promise you."

He managed to slip past her and out into the sick, dark, and twisted world of London. The sun had begun to set and the criminals had begun their prowl.

And so had Sweeney Todd.


	35. Chapter 34

Johanna stood where her father had left her. She had not moved for hours from that exact spot and there she stood, waiting for a form of consolation, be it whatever for it came in.

After waiting helplessly for her father's return or at least a source of comfort, Johanna realized that her caring Toby was missing. Johanna gazed around her in a sort of daze, her eyes scanning the walls around her as she called the boy's name.

After helplessly searching for Toby after he had mysteriously vanished, Johanna walked up to her mother's room, tears threatening to spill over if she did not keep herself composed. She knew she had to be strong, but it seemed that the peril and danger would never stop. The ghosts would never go away.

Lucy was holding her baby and, to Johanna's dismay, was standing at the window and gazing out into the matured night, her face now holding tears of worry. The usual strength in her gaze had been eaten away by pure dread and she now held an expression that made the girl feel as if her mother's pain were her own.

"Mother," Johanna began, "you should be in bed."

Lucy barely gazed at her elder daughter. "I am so worried," she choked out with a fresh tear trailing down her moon bathed cheeks. Her lips quivered as she held in a choking sob.

"Father will be fine," Johanna promised her mother, though Johanna knew that the promise was not based on fact, but consolation.

Lucy shook her head. "It is not your father that most of my concern is directed towards. It is…"

"Mrs. Lovett?" Johanna breathed. _Her mother was concerned over the one woman who had desired her husband for years? _

"Yes," the blonde woman whispered to her daughter, closing her eyes as she took in a deep breath. "I'm so worried…she might be hurt…She was my closest friend…" Unable to contain herself, Lucy was overpowered by shaking sobs.

The baby looked up at her mother as if she were curious. She reached a small hand up to the woman's chin and touched the spot where her tears fell. Lucy sent the child half a smile and held the infant close to her, protection ceasing the tears and hardening her weakness.

Johanna placed a soft hand on her mother's shoulder for support. "I cannot find Toby, mother," Johanna muttered with a desperate glance.

With a wary look, Mrs. Barker studied her daughter's face. "He most likely went to help look for Nellie."

"What if Thorne is waiting for all of them? What if he has done something?" Johanna inquired, no longer disguising the panic in her voice.

In despair, her mother shook her head and gave the window another troubled stare. She had spent most of her life wondering the same helpless questions of 'what if'. She had roamed the world, spending most of her life wondering who she was, who her family was, and _what_ had become of them _if_ something dreadful had befallen them. Those two words nearly made Lucy sick.

"You know, they may need our help," Johanna said in bland tone. The girl now studied the night, marking its prominent features.

Without a word, Lucy handed her daughter the baby and said, "I am going to try and help them. Stay inside and run if something should happen…run and immediately get the law. "Lucy gave her daughter a fierce glance to emphasize the seriousness of the situation.

Johanna held her sister close to her chest and demanded, "What do you think you are going to do?"

With a backward glance as Lucy ran towards the door, she answered. "I have spent many years being a helpless fool. I will help my family, Eleanor and Toby included, even if it is the last thing I ever will do."

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Sweeney Todd pushed through a pile of wooden crates that stood isolated in the middle of a street. With a sickening dread, he remembered that he was very close to the dock that had shipped him to his fate and returned him to the dark world of London.

The night was close to its end, for a blue light was beginning to signify the coming morning. It was a blurry morning, the wind cold and biting.

He continued to wonder through the streets, shoving aside trash like a madman, tripping and turning corners as if he were blind. There was not a hint of Eleanor Lovett. Not a sign of struggle, an article of clothing…utterly nothing!

Sweeney kicked an empty crate in frustration, sending it crashing to the opposite wall. "Damn it, woman," Todd shouted to the sky, "I am sorry…I do not hate you…Now, come back home before I kill somebody!" Sweeney turned to yet another, abandoned street. His voice carried across the vacant road. "You, of all people, know I won't hesitate in doing so!!"

Silence greeted his threat, causing him to slump against a wall in defeat. He was now leaning against a wall that belonged to a rundown building, once used to house the captains of any ships that docked. Times became so hard, the captains decided to stay on their ship and avoid paying any bill for a room, causing the owner to close his small business and leave it in the care of no one. It faced the pier where Sweeney had first disembarked _The Bountiful_ with the young Anthony Hope, nearly a lifetime ago…

The door to the building behind him opened, creaking in a tone that was far from welcoming. The barber cast the doorway behind him a suspicious glance before standing in front of it. The room smelled of mildew, no doubt from the water that was located in front of it. Dust entered his nose upon breathing, thickening in his throat as he stifled a cough. Leaning inward, he muttered, "Mrs. Lovett, are you in here?"

A sob of extreme anxiety was heard in the corner of the dark room. The man's heart gave a painful lurch with fear as he entered the deserted room, his eyes adjusting in the faint light well enough to see Eleanor Lovett's crumpled figure in the corner. She was bleeding from her mouth and a large bruise adorned her cheek.

He rushed over to her, knelt to his knees and grasped her shoulders. "What has happened?"

Barely able to sit upright, she opened her cracked lips and shrieked out only one word. "No!"

"Step away, Mr. Barker."

Sweeney turned towards that voice…the voice that had sent pain and agony crashing into his young soul; That one voice that he had begged to never hear again, for he would gladly face death than stand in front of his past prison guard, helpless and alone.

Victor Thorne stood, pistol in hand, and a sly smile playing on his lips. "I would not do anything foolish if I were in your place. I was ignorant enough to let your little daughter escape me, but this time," he gave the weapon a playful shake, "dear Mrs. Lovett will help _convince_ you to confess your true identity to the law."

Sweeney sent Mrs. Lovett a steady glance. Though he wanted to brutally stab the man who had just reminded him of his daughter and her traumatizing kidnapping, he shifted his legging and remained silent, yet equally dangerous.

"Do not try to fight this, Barker. All you have to do is retrieve the local bobby, bring him here, and sing out your true identity. If you do not…I would hate to be the one to end this woman's life. But do not even think," he spat, "that I would not do it!"

Mr. Todd stepped in front of Eleanor in an attempt to shield her from any bullets. He made his movement subtle, inconspicuous.

"Do as I say, you miserable prison rat, and get the law here!"

Mr. Todd held onto his hidden razor, preparing himself for attack.

Mrs. Lovett reached towards Mr. Todd's leg. "Do not reveal…to the…law" she gasped. "Fight him," she barely managed to whisper.

"Move to it!" Thorne ordered. "I will give you the beating of your life if you don't. You think I was bad in prison, eh? You think that those days were a nightmare? Well, test me, Barker! Let us see if my skills have rusted with age or increased with practice!"

Still, Sweeney Todd stood still. "Very well," the man whispered. "I suppose you need a motive." Thorne raised the gun towards Mrs. Lovett and cocked it.

In a sudden surge of energy, Todd lunged towards his past guard and sent his fist flying into the side of the man's skull. Thorne smashed his head into the behind wall and was sent sprawling to the floor.

"I locked you in a room filled with rotting carcasses, Barker! Rest assured that I will do so again!" Thorne screeched as he clutched at his head, which had begun to bleed. He scrambled to his feet and lurched at the ex convict, his eyes gleaming in the rising sun.

The gun that was once in his hand was sent spiraling across the room and towards the immobile Mrs. Lovett. She grimaced and held the firearm in her bloodied hand. She would not dare shoot Thorne for fear of hitting Mr. Todd. She simply sat there, on the brink of unconsciousness.

Todd was now being pinned down by Thorne, who had managed to unsheathe a knife in the process. He now held it by Todd's cheek, mouthing words of impurity. _All he had to do was grasp his razor. He should not have charged at the bastard without one!_

With his boot, Sweeney sent a sharp kick to the man's side and regained his footing. He grasped the razor in his hand, smiling as he held his weapon with authority.

While he straightened himself, Thorne scrambled over to Mrs. Lovett and held her neck in his large hand. "Now, you will pay," he shouted as he pried the gun out of the woman's hands.

Toby had lost track of Mr. Todd as he followed him. Now, the boy wondered without an inkling of where he was headed, that is, until he heard the shouts coming from an abandoned building that lay along the harbor.

With a sickening dread, Toby advanced towards the neglected building. The shouting voices belonged to a man. In his mind, Toby matched the sounds he was hearing at the present time to a threat he had heard long ago…

"_I WILL GLADY ENJOY SINKING MY BULLETS INTO EACH AND EVERY ONE Of YOUR PATHETIC FACES!"_

Toby remembered the words with nauseating clarity and charged through the doorway, prepared to face the man who had threatened to kill them all. He had noticed Todd standing straight on one side of the room, his eyes staring at another site. Toby turned his head in the direction of the barber's gaze to see Mrs. Lovett lying in the corner with Thorne leaning over her hunched figure. Only, the man was holding something in his hand…something dark which was now pointed towards his guardian…A gun.

Toby let out a pleading scream, "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!"

The gunshot rippled throughout the building, sending soft shudders through the glass of the cracked windows. Toby stood, immobilized by fear as he saw his guardian-the only mother he had ever known- slouched over after the bullet piercing the skin of her chest, shattering her breast.

Toby fell to the floor and reached towards the woman, uncaring if the assassin took his life then and there. Thorne, upon seeing the boy, reached towards Toby, and grabbed the boy by his neck. He squeezed until the boy began to see red spots which clouded all sights but were not merciful enough to erase the memory of seeing his only mother lying on the floor, bleeding.

In another moment, the pressure on the boy's neck was released and the child fell to the floor, clutching his throat and gasping violently for breath. He looked upward to see Mr. Todd standing over him; only the barber did not seem to see him. He only had sights on the murderer of Eleanor Lovett.

Toby crawled over to his guardian's bleeding figure and held her in a limp embrace, barely able to face consciousness.

Sweeney Todd, however, took on a more violent action. He whipped out his razor and charged towards the man who now stood over the bleeding baker, gun still in hand. In a flash, Todd raised his razor, and before Thorne had time to prepare his gun to fire at the barber, Sweeney Todd plunged his razor into Thorne's wrist.

Mr. Thorne hollered in pain and dropped his murder weapon. His screams were cut off as Todd pulled the razor out of his flesh and grasped the man's neck just as Thorne had with Toby.

"Do you recall the day," Mr. Todd asked the thrashing man, "I told you that I prayed Benjamin Barker would live to see the day you died?" He did not wait for an answer.

"Well," said Sweeney Todd as he lifted his razor to the heavens and the devil flashed in his eyes, "today will be the day."

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**I regret to inform you that this is a cliffhanger and that the end to this enjoyable story is near. I hope you have enjoyed this and I can safely say that there are five at most chapters left for this story. **


	36. Chapter 35

Thorne's skin paled the moment Sweeney Todd's words had slipped out of his snarling mouth. He clawed at the barber's arm, screeching from the gash that the man had inserted in his wrist. Todd still held Thorne's neck in a chokehold and squeezed every breath out of the struggling man, until his paled complexion turned a mottled purple.

Toby clasped Mrs. Lovett limp hand, gazing at the irregular pattern of colors that painted his eyesight. He knew all too well that he was undergoing some sort of bodily harm, though none of his wellbeing seemed to matter. Mrs. Lovett let out a choking gasp, sending Toby into howls of torturous agony.

Such a sound seemed to startle the two enemies, for their movements stopped and they both gazed at the sobbing boy. His screams could not be held in comparison to any other object in the world, for it was a scream of pure horror, total and absolute suffering. The child's cries carried throughout the building, echoing in the distance and sending shivers of dread to the people who had awoken to a glorious morning. Only one sentence, in which the boy spoke, was audible. With a gasping breath, trembling with hatred, Tobias wailed, "You have killed her!"

The statement was inaccurate, for the woman was indeed, still living, but it was evident that her time on the earth was numbered. Imprecise as the accusation may have been at the time; it was enough to infuriate Mr. Todd so that one menacing sentence flowed from deep with his vengeful soul and into the face of the murderer. "You killed her," the man whispered to his captive.

Thorne gave a shake of his head but the action went unheeded by Sweeney. The barber dragged Mr. Thorne over to the nearest wall and faced the man's head towards the hard surface. With powerful thrusts, Todd smashed Thorne's head into the wall's surface. Each time the man forced his ex guard's face into the wall, he would shout with growing intensity, "You killed her! You killed her! You killed her!"

Todd could feel the man's skull crack beneath his powerful hand, until Thorne managed to crawl away from the wall and grope his way across the floor. Using his hands, he crawled away from the barber at a painfully slow pace, only to be followed by the hulking form of Sweeney Todd.

Todd soon became tired of the pursuit and grasped the man's hair and pulled Thorne to his feet. The male staggered away from his old prisoner and shielded his bloodied face with his arms.

"Now," Todd breathed in a dark voice that was dripping with menace, "you know what fear is, Victor Thorne. You now know how it feels to be beaten to the point of suffocation and to not know if you will escape the very room where death seemed a virtue," he took a savory breath, "I do hope you have enjoyed learning this lesson…Your _last_ lesson." Todd razed the razor that he had been holding in his rigid hand.

Excepting his fate, Thorne nodded his head and muttered, "I knew I never should have taken the fucking job in bleeding Australia." He let his hands fall to his sides. "Just end it then."

Todd paused after hearing the man's surrender. He assessed the helpless individual in front of him. He had given up! All thoughts of hesitance drained from his body when he heard a voice behind him.

"Kill him, Mr. Todd," Toby spat. "Make every moment hurt like hell."

The razor seemed to slice through the man's skin like a knife through water. Todd plunged the straight edge into Thorne's neck, unable to control his hunger; unable to stop. He ripped through Victor Thorne's throat, blood spraying in every direction. The razor seemed to be lost inside of the man's flesh, and Sweeney Todd had to jerk the metal out of his victim's skin in order to shove its edge in once more.

The sufferer's eyes began to dim, and as his figure slowly slid to the floor, Sweeney Todd could swear he heard the man gurgle, "Barker," before the figure of the man went still and sprawled across the bloody stones.

Todd stood over the dead man, razor still in hand.

Without warning, a group of constables burst into the room, Lucy staggering behind him. The three officers stared at Sweeney Todd, leaving the man with no other option than to return the stares in which they sent him.

Lucy searched the room, her eyes stopping on her husband. She let out a sigh of relief upon seeing him, which soon turned to undisguised horror when her eyes rested upon the blood that dripped off of his face and onto the heap of flesh that lay at her lover's feet.

"What has happened here?" One of them bellowed.

Lucy sent Sweeney Todd a look of grief as he gazed at her with a look of repentance. "I am sorry," he mouthed towards her.

Toby stood between Todd and the law. "It was Victor Thorne," the boy wheezed. "Mr. T was just protecting himself, and Thorne shot Mrs. Lovett. Don't hurt Mr. T…you've got to help her" The poor child's breath began to cease. He clutched at his chest and collapsed to the floor, sobbing and panting for breath.

"Easy son," one of the constables said as he knelt downward towards the child and supported the boy's back.

Mr. Todd suddenly burst out of his stupor and rushed towards the woman who lay bleeding in the corner. The world fell away; the whole world was simply a blur around him. Eleanor Lovett's breathing was short, labored, limited. "Oh, Mr. T," she sputtered as he shifted her figure. She now rested against his chest, heaving from the movement.

"Nellie, we've got to get you out of here," Todd blurted out as she clutched his warm hand.

"Love," she said in a soft tone, one of acceptance. "Please, stay here."

"No, Eleanor, you are coming with me and we are finding you a doctor and you're…"

"Sweeney Todd, for god's sake, I'm dying. Can you please let me say what I need to say?"

The barber began to blink back a tear that had begun to form in his eyes. "You are not dying," he argued in a broken voice. Whatever ill feelings he had felt towards the woman seemed to vanish. He did not know what made him care for this woman, what made him wish he could save her. Perhaps her undying devotion for him had softened him. He did not know…

"I know I have lied to you. I lied to you about the one person you love the most," Nellie's eyes flicked to Lucy's face. The blonde woman stood in the corner, her head bent. Though the woman's heart was truly saddened, she understood that if Eleanor Lovett was to pass on with any hint of comfort, then she needed this moment. She needed her husband…and Lucy was willing to give her dying friend what she yearned for. Even if she was dying on the inside…

"I…I'm truly sorry," she moaned, "Time to see me dear Albert."

Todd scowled at this. "You cannot…"

"I love you," Mrs. Lovett sighed. "I know I should not."

Sweeney Todd then bent over her relaxing body. Her eyes were beginning to close, slowly, as he pressed his lips to her forehead. The kiss was gentle, caring.

The corners of Eleanor's mouth rose upward in a faint smile. "Thank you," she whispered. "Tell Lucy and Johanna and Toby that I love them." Her vision began to dim, and she allowed herself to indulge in the sweetness that came when she said the name of the man she had loved for countless years. "Benjamin," she sighed with her last breath. A faint melody rang in her mind. One that Toby and Johanna had sang during the rainy days, when times seemed to be at their very best.

…_To shed in his light and to die…_

Sweeney Todd stood straight and gazed down at the woman who lay, dead, upon the floor. He felt a sharp pain in his chest as Toby went into a fit of despair, moaning and crying until he was barely able to maintain his consciousness. Lucy had begun to weep into her hands, mourning the loss of her friend.

His wife's sobs sent Sweeney across the room. He stood in front of his wife, looking into her eyes, begging for forgiveness. She ignored the blood that coated his skin and lurched forward, wrapping him in a tight embrace. "You did the right thing," she said into his neck, though he knew she was not referring to the murder he had committed. She was referring to Mrs. Lovett.

"I love you," he whispered into her hair. "Where is Johanna?"

Lucy pulled away and grasped his bloody hand in hers. "I left her home with the baby so I could get the law here. They heard Toby scream and came here."

He sighed as he heard an officer approach behind him. "Sir, a moment, if you would?" he asked.

Sweeney nodded his head and gave his wife's hand a squeeze before he turned towards the officer. With a sigh, he faced the man whom he recognized to be the man who had arrested him years ago.

"Sir, we have been informed previously that the man whom you have murdered has been previously obsessed with an escaped convict by the name of Benjamin Barker," the officer stated. "While this woman was lying there, I could not help but overhear her calling you Benjamin," he paused and surveyed Mr. Todd. "I also do not know why Victor Thorne would attack you if he was so engulfed in his desire to see Barker's destruction unless you were…"

Todd bent his head. "…Unless I was Benjamin Barker?"

The officer gave a nod of his head. "Are you Benjamin Barker?"

Hope seemed to die as Sweeney Todd faced his arresting officer. "I am Benjamin Barker."

Lucy stepped towards her husband and clutched at his arm. "Please, do not take him away!" she begged in a tone of hysteria.

The officer sent Lucy a conflicted glance which turned to Sweeney Todd. "Sir, we need to dispose of the body of the woman and man."

Sweeney and Lucy let out a breath of air. "You will not take my husband?" Lucy inquired the officer, her face holding growing joy.

"No," he said simply. "I will not take him away."

He turned away from the stunned couple and bent over the body of Victor Thorne. "I will take Mr. Thorne. His body is to go into the harbor…let the fishes have him. You, Barker, are to take the body of the woman and do with her what you wish."

Still in a state of shock, Sweeney Todd stumbled over to the body of Eleanor Lovett and muttered, "Thank you, sir."

"Think nothing of it, Mr. Barker."

And with that, Sweeney Todd clutched the body of Mrs. Lovett and walked out of the room with her in his arms, Toby in the police's arms, and Lucy trailing behind them, tears streaking her face.

Sweeney gazed down at the still face of Lovett, and muttered one statement. "I am so sorry, Nellie." He carried her body out into the morning light and made his way to the cemetery as people stared at the heart wrenching sight.

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**This is so sad! I am sorry that I had to kill of two characters, but that's just what I do. You can't have Sweeney Todd without death! Review and tell me what you thing about the deaths, the officers not arresting Todd out of guilt, anything! Go ahead; make my day. **

**Review and I will be the happiest author in the world! Thank you.**

**-The end is close- **


	37. Chapter 36

People gaped in shock as the barber made his way through the streets, clutching at the limp body of a dead woman. Police officers trailed behind the man, though the constable who was to dump the body of Victor Thorne was still at his gruesome task. Lucy kept a respectful distance away from her husband. She clasped her hands and kept her blonde head bent as the cries of alarm pierced her hearing.

A group of children ran through the road and stared at the curious seen before them, before terror gripped their small hearts and they ran towards the safety of their mother's skirts. Men and women alike, stood agape and secluded from one and other. An eerie calm washed over the crowd, enveloping them as they walked behind Sweeney Todd to see the fate of the dead Mrs. Lovett. Curiosity provoked each person to steal a glance at the horrific sight, and curiosity was the reason they retched at the blood that stained the strange man's hands.

Johanna, who had been gazing out of her father's shop and holding her baby sister, had noticed the odd sight before her. With dawning horror, she realized the man clutching the dead woman to be her father, and the dead female, to be Mrs. Lovett. The girl leapt from her chair and burst through the doors of the building. She ran without control, tussling through every object in her path until she stood beside her adjacent mother and behind her silent father.

The cemetery was drawing closer. The stench of death was enough to make the strongest man be sick. Sweeney held his breath and continued onward, paying no heed to the questionable glances from the wondering assembly.

The gates to the graveyard were rusted to a close, forcing the man to barge the doors open with his shoulder, nearly losing his grip on Mrs. Lovett. He wrapped his arm around her tumbling figure and pulled her closer to his body as he stumbled into the sacred grounds, and into Eleanor's final resting place.

Todd trudged over to a cleared spot where the grave could be made and gently, caringly, placed Mrs. Lovett down upon the ground in order to free his hands for the labor needed to construct a hole.

He began to dig. He had no tool to work with, so he manually used his hands. Dirt accumulated under his fingernails and rocks cut his skin. He dug until his hands bled, never faltering in his work and never wiping the grimace off of his colorless face.

Someone, though he did not know who, placed a shovel beside him and departed from the spot, leaving him in a reverential silence. He could have turned to thank the man, but he did not.

The shovel sliced through the dirt as soon as Todd began. Again and again, he piled rocks and debris to the side, sweating just as he had in Australia, bleeding just as he had for fifteen years. Each thrust with the tool was a memory of his labor in the boiling heat, so long ago, yet so vivid in recollection. Each lift of the shovel was a burden on his arms, just as it was when he was forced to move boulders of the earth and timbers of the scarce forests.

The blood licked the wood of his tool, as it had consumed the flesh of each and every one of his victims. Every single time his blood ran down his arms and onto the grounds of death, he would remember. The boy that he had hired to sweep up hair: when he had killed him, a profound sadness had claimed his soul, forcing him to pant in a chair and gain his bearings once more. The innocents that entered his shop: he would sing of his daughter as he slit their throats, searching for a trace of light in the darkness of the sky. All of his victim's deaths seemed to clutch at his soul, reminding him of the job he must finish, and the horrors, that he too, must bury.

The thought of his vengeance made the strokes of the shovel's blade more powerful, angry. He had relished seeing the sight of his mortal enemy in excruciating pain. The thoughts of Turpin, Thorne, and the Beadle increased the thrusts of his tool, increasing the deepness of the hole in the ground.

And with his vengeance, came pain and suffering. The loss of his daughter's childhood, her innocence, the agony that came with the very thought of his wife's fate, the stolen friendship he had found within Anthony Hope, only to be crushed when he died in an attempt to save his own daughter. All of the pain, and he now had lost yet another. The thoughts of his loss made blind tears of pity form in his eyes and the strokes of his shovel, slow.

The grave was finished, but the worst was yet to come.

Sweeney Todd lifted the body of the woman who had remained by his side during his days of madness and during his despairing times of weakness. Slowly, so slowly, he tenderly placed her body in the shallow grave, grimacing at the sight of the female, dead beneath his feet. He never thought this could happen.

She had died because of him, and the last thing he had said to her before she was taken was that he _hated_ her…and for that he hated himself.

The dirt that was flung against her skin was a sharp contrast to her pale skin. Sweeney shuddered at the sight, yet he continued to pile the dirt on her clammy body, limp as a doll, dead as his own innocence.

His thoughts mainly focused on the woman lying before him. Yes, she had lied to him, but with that lie came her inevitable repentance and sorrow, as well as the truth.

Eleanor had been sorry for her sins; she had made her peace with god.

The hole was now filled to the brim. Todd was not sure how many hours had passed as he had dug the grave, yet time seemed to shrink away until it was but a tiny complication in his life. Sweeney Todd hovered over the fresh grave, staring at the dirt until his eyes pained. He needed a tombstone.

A hand rested upon his shoulder and he could hear a husky voice whisper, "We'll take it from here, sir." Mr. Todd nodded his head and stepped backwards as the man dragged over a stone, decent enough in size to be created into a tombstone. The man rolled it upright and took out a chisel from beneath his coat.

"What was her name, sir?" he asked the barber without glancing away from the hard stone.

"Eleanor Lovett," Sweeney said under his breath.

"Pardon?"

"Eleanor Lovett," he repeated in a louder voice.

"Right…and the date is…that's right," the man mumbled to himself as he began to carve the woman's name upon the boulder.

Sweeney gazed at the man's work. His gaze was almost too intent for him to feel the soft hand that was placed upon his shoulder. Mr. Todd tore his eyes away from the grave and gazed into the teary eyes of his Lucy.

"I am sorry," he whispered to her, though she knew he referred his apology to far more than the day's events. She leaned towards her husband and placed a kiss on his lips as tears escaped her eyes once more, trailing down his neck. He grasped her shoulders and pulled her closer to him, fearing that she would disappear if he let go. Johanna rushed towards her parents and shifted the baby away from her parents so she could embrace them as well. They all held one and other and they all mourned the loss of their friend.

Lucy pulled apart from them, and whispered, "I have thought of a name for our baby…Eleanor."

Sweeney Todd bent his head, overwhelmed. "Yes. We'll name her…Eleanor. Oh god, Lucy," he groaned as he pulled her back into the safety of his embrace. His hand rested upon his newborn daughter's head and he clutched at his elder daughter's shoulder.

Over his family's shoulders, Sweeney Todd noticed his old arresting officer standing aside of the watchful crowd and staring at the tragic scene before him.

Sweeney loosened his hold on his family with an apologetic half-smile and trudged over to the officer that he had loathed for so many years. The male studied him and said, "You have changed."

Todd stared at the tips of his boots. "I have."

"And I am sure that the experiences in the penal colony did not help your situation."

"No, sir," Sweeney rasped.

The officer gazed at the horrible appearance of the man's eyes, searching for light beneath the darkness. "I refuse to send you back."

"I know, sir. Why?"

The officer looked towards the horizon. "In my honest opinion, you were never guilty of any crime. I was told to arrest you, so I did in fear that I would lose my position if I refused. I committed the crime, for there was not a trace of evidence against you, Barker. I have heard that a sin is an immoral deed meant to derive pain from someone's being. We sent you away and you have returned from the dead. To send you back there, well, to me _that_ is a true sin."

Todd gazed at the man before him in awe. "Thank you, sir," he whispered to the man that had shipped him away to his doom.

"Think nothing of it. Now, go on, and see to your family, Mr. Barker."

Sweeney Todd gave the man one last glance before rushing towards his family. He whispered words to them and they began to make their way back home.

As Todd looked behind him, he could swear he heard the crowd whisper his name, with looks of astonishment upon their faces. Through the crowd, he could see the officer that had just shown him mercy incline his head in respect.

Sweeney Todd returned the gesture.

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**Wow. This was a very powerful chapter for me. Tell me if you agree by reviewing please! It will give me confidence that you liked the story. But THIS IS NOT THE END! We have one more chapter to go, so please, be patient. (Not that you guys haven't been the best readers in the whole world!) Thank you!**


	38. Chapter 37

Sweeney Todd stood at the grave of Eleanor Lovett. It had been only three years since that fateful day had occurred. The day that had deprived him of a hidden friend, yet granted him his trust towards the world once more. He thought of time and how slowly it seemed to have gone by when he was in prison, yet how quickly the days turned to nights now that he was a free man once again. Time seemed to be a mockery.

Toby had left them the day his mother-figure had been brutally murdered. The boy was taken care of by the law until he "slipped away," as they said, and departed for what seemed to be forever. Johanna had sat by her window, observing every person she could find in the street, hoping that one of them was a young boy who wore scuffed shoes, a brown jacket, and a messy head of dark hair that always made her grin. She did not spot him.

Finally, the boy came by on a particularly dreary day. He knocked upon the door and simply asked for food after a long day of shuffling through the streets, famished and exhausted. The moment Todd had laid eyes upon the child, he noticed that the boy's hair had begun to grow gray and his eyes were pink from lack of sleep. Johanna had seen as well. She stumbled outside and knelt to the floor, slowly wrapping her arms around the boy and crying as she held the back of his neck in her hand. All the boy did was return the embrace and frown when her tears stung his open wounds.

Even after his harsh beatings under the degrading hand of Pirelli, the boy had been able to cling to his innocence, like a lost sailor clinging to his lifeline in a rampant sea. Now, Tobias was a distant and experienced adolescent. Nothing could be done to bring back the child within him.

Toby's visits became more frequent until he finally lived in the Barker's home once again after the family's heavy persuasions and pleas.

The home now seemed empty. Mrs. Lovett's pie shop had been closed, forcing the family to live off of money from the barber's customers and the saved sum that had been left from the meat pie business. Money was not a problem; it never had been.

The repetitive and steady beat of a knife upon a cutting board was now a distant memory. Mr. Todd could swear that at night, when all was calm, he could hear the faint sound of dough being beaten upon a marble counter. The sound would cease the minute he went down to inspect its source, leaving the man with an immense pain filling his heart.

Sweeney Todd had believed with an earnest desire that the reunion with his wife and girl would have gained his old self back. In his heart, he knew that he would never be the man he once was. Benjamin Barker would not be his whole, but the man that he once was always remained inside of him, brining him a soothing comfort when he felt the horrendous grips of hate clutch his mind and soul.

Eleanor Barker grew to be a loving child. Of all the members of her home, she favored her father with all of her being. The child would cling to his sleeve, raising her dimpled hands to his waist and tugging at the trim of his vest, a sign that she wanted to be held. The barber would scoop her in his arms and hold her to him, sometimes undergoing pain when he saw Benjamin through her brown eyes, and always grimacing when he thought of the dire situation which had given his daughter her name.

"Sing!" she would implore her mother and sister when Todd was at his profession. The women would slowly serenade Eleanor with the most glorious of songs, some speaking of undying love and affection, while others consisted of sacrifice and hopeless adoration. When Mr. Todd heard one of their soft voices wavering with the melodious sound, he could not control the shivers that travelled through his spine and made his eyes mist.

Johanna was no longer a child of nature, but a strong and "modern" young woman. The girl would never cast aside her horrific past, and she used her weakness as her only strength. She spoke freely of the rights that a woman should be granted and had absolutely no desire to search for a man to simply lean upon. She desired love, and could only find that from her parents and the comfort of her childhood friend. The female spent her days perfecting her skills in sewing, stating that she had been granted years of practice, and selling any material at the market. Toby stared at her hands when they were holding the needle, a sort of longing clouding his eyes. It would not be until he was older that he would propose the idea of marriage to the girl and would receive an anxious "yes."

Hesitance had ceased between the barber and his wife. No longer did he stray from her gaze or clench his fists when he thought of holding the woman. No, he embraced his desires and would hold her and breathe the scent that radiated from her skin and colored his memory. Every touch and every kiss increased his protection over this woman. He would lie down and die for her.

And yet, the void in all of their lives remained. Sweeney Todd now stood at Eleanor's grave, staring into the stone of death that had selfishly claimed her name upon its hard surface. Todd leaned forward and caressed the gentle swoop of the E in her name and then travelled across the letters until he had reached the end of the tombstone. He could not bear gaze at the date that was chiseled below that name.

Guilt embraced his sorrow, guilt that he had caused the death of this woman; guilt that he had caused the deaths of numerous innocents.

_Guilt that he had committed crimes because of the crime that he did not do. _

Wind tore through the leaves that lay scattered over the floor, brushing past each stone with a soft shudder.

Kneeling to his knees, Todd began to speak to the stone and run his fingers over the earth. "Eleanor," he whispered to the ground. "I am sorry. I have harmed so many…and I confess to these crimes here and now. I apologize because I wish to make amends with all that I have wronged…I wish to look at myself in the mirror and have respect, however small it may be, for the man staring back at me.

"I am also here to thank you. You believed in my return when no one else did. You remained loyal and true until the day I returned to my home, assisting me in my hours of darkness and despair. In truth, you were the only one there for me…and because of you I have regained my family. You are the reason I have been reunited with the sole purposes of my existence." He paused and clenched a handful of dirt in his hand, allowing it to slip through his fingers.

"You don't deserve this…you never have. None of us did," he said in a voice on the verge of breaking.

Now, the wind blew to his face, flowing over his skin like a soft hand upon his cheek. He placed his fingers upon the spot and continued.

"I wish for you to know that we are not bad people, Nellie. We have done horrible things, yet we were all driven by one motive and one motive alone. We both were driven by love." The last of the dirt slid from his fingers and scattered across the ground.

"I think upon the times where I have sworn that I will never forget, nor will I forgive," he let out a small chuckle. "Surprisingly, I have managed to forgive the town, the law, and _the world_."

Sweeney placed his hand upon the cold surface of her tombstone but kept his head bent.

"But I can never forget."

He stood to his feet and tore his hand away from the stone's surface.

"I never forget the horrors I had been meant to face, the hell I had to endure, nor shall I forget the many faces I have seen. I never will forget you face Eleanor Lovett."

He turned for the grave and began to exit the cemetery. As he walked away from the grounds of death, a strong wind blew across the yard, carrying leaves and debris as well as Benjamin Barker's last words.

"I don't want to forget."

**And that, my faithful readers, is the ending to our story.**

**Writing this story was so much fun! I laughed, I cried, and I wrote this particular chapter while listening to the song **_**Nearer My God to Thee**_**! Bring the tears!**

**I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. It's hard to say goodbye (this sucks!) but as Arnold would say… "I'll be back!" Please consider reading any new stories that I make and I implore you to leave a review suggesting what you would like to see in any of my future stories. All I ask is that you leave one and tell me your exact thoughts on this story, be they good or bad. I want to thank you all who have reviewed (there have been so many) and I want you to know that I appreciate every word you have expressed to me on my first fanfiction story. Thank you so much, you guys. **

**All my love,**

**Lovebug**


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